Schmigadoon!, a celebration and send-up of classic Broadway musicals that streamed for two seasons on Apple TV, has now made the inevitable if unnecessary transfer to the stage. Unlike last season’s misbegotten TV-to-stage adaptation Smash, which drifted far from the story and characters that had won it a loyal fan base, the creative team here has embraced the elements that made the show such a charming destination for theater kids everywhere.
Cinco Paul, the creator and composer of the Emmy-winning series, has skillfully condensed the first season into a standard-length Broadway musical that maintains the rainbow-bright appeal of the genre. The story follows two modern-day New York City physicians, the musical-loving Melissa (Sara Chase, perfectly perky) and the commitment-phobic sourpuss Josh (Alex Brightman, a committed curmudgeon) who doesn’t understand why anyone would swallow stories in which people randomly burst into song. While squabbling on a couples retreat, the two get lost in the woods and wander into an enchanted town called Schmigadoon where song-and-dance appears to be the only mode of communication. The bickering lovebirds soon learn — from a leprechaun (Maulik Pancholy) straight out of Finian’s Rainbow — that they can only go back home when they’ve found their true love. Or, to be more accurate, when Josh learns to tamp down his knee-jerk aversion to musicals and express his feelings in melody.
The town, with its candy-colored buildings and central gazebo designed by Scott Pask and lit by Donald Holder, could have been lifted out of any number of mid-20th-century musicals from The Music Man to Carousel to Oklahoma! The residents, sharply dressed in a delicious array of bustles and waistcoats (designed by Linda Cho), hue closely to traditional archetypes: the censorious preacher’s wife (Ana Gasteyer), the bad-boy carnival barker (Max Clayton), the fussbudget (and closeted) mayor (Brad Oscar), and the beloved schoolmarm (Isabella McCalla) and her sweet, lisping little brother (Ayaan Diop).
Paul’s score toes a delicate but delectable line between parody and pastiche, often playing on the melody and lyrics of more familiar numbers from the American songbook. Roughly half of the score has been lifted from the show, sometimes with all new lyrics to suit the slimmed-down story, as in the gloss on The Sound of Music‘s “Do Re Mi” that Melissa adapts into a basic lesson in sex ed. The originals fit in nicely with the tunes from the TV show, like a version of Billy Bigelow’s soliloquy from Carousel that Clayton supplements with some athletic choreography to woo Melissa into his tunnel of love. Meanwhile, the town flirt (played with hilarious abandon by McKenzie Kurtz) pursues Josh with a new solo about how “she’s not that kind of gal” despite her eagerness to smooch virtual strangers in a sequence that evokes both Ado Annie from Oklahoma! and all those women with shotgun-wielding fathers in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
This is an old-fashioned musical in the best sense. Our lead couple, grounded in the present to which they hope to return, willingly cede center stage to an ensemble of eccentrics who often get a solo number of their own. That allows for more characters, more archetypes ripped loose from classic shows, and more giddiness. Not to mention more opportunities for the deep cast and talented chorus to make an impression. Everyone seems to be having a blast — and the feeling proves infectious whenever the action shifts to one of director-choreographer’s Christopher Gattelli’s high-stepping production numbers, which match the eclectic score with a wide range of dance callbacks to earlier routines from Broadway’s past.
That generosity of showmanship can be too much of a good thing: The glut of characters and subplots sometimes overwhelms the main story. (Case in point: Ivan Hernandez’s sexist throwback of a doctor has such a sped-up narrative arc that he never has time to emerge as a legitimate contender for Melissa’s affections.) It’s also best not to examine the primary romance too closely because Josh and Melissa honestly don’t seem well matched at all. Brightman plays up Josh’s Knicks-loving bro attitude with comedic gusto, and Chase is a winsome delight as a woman who relishes entering a 24-7 version of BroadwayCon. But unless there’s a sequel where she finds her inner jock and develops an appreciation for his passions as well as her own, it’s not clear how happy this couple’s happily ever after will be.
There may be a paucity of Knicks fans at the Nederlander Theatre, which is probably for the best. Schmigadoon! is a show by and for musical mavens — and they should climb any mountain, never walk alone, and rock the boat (without sitting down) to get themselves a seat. ★★★★☆
SCHMIGADOON!
Nederlander Theatre, Broadway
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Tickets on sale through September 6 for $69 to $349