Musical Of Musicals (The Musical!)

Musical Of Musicals (The Musical) is performed by the Woodlands High School Theatre, Texas, as part of the American High Schools Theatre Festival. It is a parody of various musicals in five acts, each in a different style. The acts are:

Corn!, in the style of Rodgers & Hammerstein
A Little Complex, in the style of Stephen Sondheim
Dear Abby!, in the style of Jerry Herman
Aspects Of Junita, in the style of Andrew Lloyd Webber
Speakeasy, in the style of Kander & Ebb

Each act has a different story and they are not directly related to each other. The characters have similar names (Big Willy, Billy, Bill etc) but are not played by the same actors. The one common theme is that in each one is a landlord to whom rent is owed. Sondheim’s landlord is, of course, a totally different prospect to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s and Lloyd Webber’s landlord has a mask covering half his face. Where have we seen that before?

It’s quite surprising how different each act is and how well the different composers have been parodied. The singing and dancing is excellent and the whole show is extremely funny. My particular favourite is the Lloyd Webber segment, with everything from Jesus Christ Superstar to Evita to Phantom Of The Opera, but all are done very well. There are only four performances so you’ll need to move quickly to catch this, but it’s worth it.