Backbeard
Based upon his children’s picture book series, Matthew McElligott co-authored the book and lyrics to this musical about pirates of the most silly kind. While Backbeard himself is very, very hairy and very, very smelly, the pirate danger can be summed up in the song lyric, “he’ll give you a pirate wedgie.” After a raucous birthday party finds Backbeard’s clothes ruined, he turns to two tailors who give him a colorful, non-piratey makeover, complete with a pig rather than a bird perched on his shoulder. Winning acceptance for standing up for who you are, told through song, dance, comedy and swordplay, is the big theme. This is definitely kid’s stuff but I laughed out loud and the children in the audience seemed to be having a great time. The songs fit the story and riffed somewhat on the typical pirate songs forever stuck in your head. Lyrics were clever and not dumbed down for the young folks.
I imagine Backbeard must be a fun book to read with your child and that is exactly what was put onstage. Kudos to the director, Michael Musial, who also wrote the score and co-wrote the lyrics. Everyone in the cast seemed 100% committed to the show in terms of tone and style, which made the material truly come to life. Jimmy Kieffer (Backbeard) was hilarious and the whole largely non-equity cast nailed the comedic storybook effect like seasoned pros. Disney could take this piece and run with it. Well executed and a nice surprise.
Motherfreakinghood!
From the author’s note: Whether you are a tiger mom, helicopter mom or free-range mom, we’ve all said things like “Leave the cigarette butt on the ground” and “the Tooth Fairy must have been too busy to come last night.” If that sentence made you nod in appreciation, this show may be for you. Packed with 22 songs over 90 minutes, Motherfreakinghood! is the musical revue of three women from pregnancy test through high school graduation. A kitchen sink of song titles such as: “Ballad of the Post Partum,” “Poo-Wop Playground,” “Hormones on Parade” and, when I needed it, “Last Freaking Song.” The musical style is sort of doo-wop, girl group but occasionally musical theater inspired, like “Friends to the End,” clearly indebted to “Friendship” from Anything Goes.
Does this show work? As an off-Broadway revue, perhaps yes. Target audience: moms who need a girl’s night out, some Chardonnay, or two Cosmopolitans, or both.
Ben, Virginia and Me: The Liberace Musical
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Liberace was one of the highest paid entertainers in the world, having conquered Las Vegas during its meteoric rise in the desert. Liberace’s three brand symbols were the piano, a candelabra and flamboyant costumes. Underneath the glitter was a closeted gay man who was so effeminate it is hard to imagine anyone was fooled. Ben, Virginia and Me is a musical combining the stories of Liberace’s career and personal life trajectory with the gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and his girlfriend, Virginia, who built the Flamingo Hotel for the mob. As musicals can do, this story is very loosely based on facts: all three of them were in Las Vegas, there was an encounter where Bugsy offered Liberace a job at his hotel and Liberace’s public humiliation in London by the Daily Mail resulting in a libel suit.
Does it matter than the core of the show, the relationship between the three titular characters, is best classified as historical fiction? Not really. The show opens with “The Fabulous Flamingo,” complete with showgirls and glitz. Not only do we get a healthy dose of classic Las Vegas spectacle but also a little slice of history of two of its early famous icons: the Flamingo Hotel and “Mr. Showmanship.” As Liberace, Samuel Floyd delivers a fully rounded performance of a complicated individual, never slipping into caricature. The best moment in the show came near the end with “Beautiful Man,” a elegantly staged memory song where Liberace reminisces about his early relationship with Rock Hudson.
Although Ben, Virginia and Me is always watchable, it is overstuffed to the point that Virginia’s death is just a throwaway line to wrap up a main character’s story arc. The real fun here was the vast parade of costumes designed by Kurt Alger: showgirls with headresses, 1940s mob suits, and increasingly ruffled, feathered frocks for our flashy, garish pianist. The cast even had curtain call costumes where everyone donned their finest sparkle. Within a NYMF budget, very impressive indeed. There’s a big show concept inside Ben, Virginia and Me, perhaps leaning more towards Me.