Schmigadoon!

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If you ever wished you could see ten Golden Age Broadway musicals in a row, now that is possible from a contemporary point of view! Triple-threat theater aficionado Cinco Paul (book, music and lyrics) has adapted his Apple TV series Schmigadoon! for the Broadway stage and his tribute to the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein and their followers is even more fun than its small screen predecessor as all six episodes of the first season have been incorporated  into one show. Part of the fun is to identify which show, song or character from Rodgers and Hammerstein, Frank Loesser or Meredith Willson is being parodied at any given moment.

Led by Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice; School of Rock) and Sara Chase (The Great Gatsby), the large cast of stars and featured players fill out their roles with all the panache of the original creators including Ann Harada who recreates her role as Florence Menlove, the mayor’s wife. Christopher Gattelli’s direction and choreography is completely attuned to Paul’s wavelength and the show skips merrily along.

Inspired by the premise of Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon, Josh Skinner and Melissa Gimble, two New York doctors whose relationship has soured, go to couples’ retreat in the Catskills only to get lost and end up in Schmigadoon, a turn-of-the-century town, where every day is a musical and you can’t leave until you find true love. Melissa, a maven on musicals of the 1940s and 50’s, immediately recognizes the denizens of the town: waitress Betsy is Ado Annie from Oklahoma!; schoolmarm Emma Tate is Marian Paroo from The Music Man while her lisping brother Carson is Winthrop from the same show; loose-living carny Danny Bailey is Billy Bigelow from Carousel; Doc Lopez is a cross between Captain Von Trapp from The Sound of Music and the unnamed Doc from Pipe Dream; the narrow-minded wife of the mayor, Mildred Layton, is Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, the equally conservative wife of Mayor Shinn in The Music Man; while Countess Gabrielle Von Blerkom, Doc’s girlfriend who shows up late in the show is the Baroness Elsa Schraeder from The Sound of Music. The leprechaun is obviously Og from Finian’s Rainbow. Josh, however hates the unreality of musicals and refuses to sing, while Melissa joins in when asked by the townspeople.

Josh and Melissa immediately have a lover’s spat and each goes his own way: Josh is pursued by randy waitress Betsy McDonough while Melissa is attracted to carny Danny Bailey. Their modern citified ways immediately tick off Mrs. Layton. When it is discovered that they are not married, they are put out of the Schmigadoon Inn and have to find other lodging though no one will rent to them. Josh applies for the handyman’s job at the school working for teacher Emma Tate, while Melissa, an ob/gyn, takes the job of nurse to Doc who refuses to help Nancy who is pregnant out of wedlock. After a series of dark events derived from these famous musicals, all turns out happily in the end – like most Broadway shows but not all as demonstrated by Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific and most notably West Side Story.

While Paul’s score is melodic and satisfying, it is his witty lyrics that you be listening for due to their clever parodies of famous songs from golden age musicals. Of the 24 songs in the show, 17 were used in the television version (though some have new titles) and seven have been added to the stage show. The opening title song has references to the similar one in Oklahoma! as well as Brigadoon’s title song. Carnival manager Danny’s “You Can’t Tame Me” has ideas from both Ado Annie’s “I Cain’t Say No” from Oklahoma! and Irving Berlin’s “I’m a Bad Bad Man” in Annie Get Your Gun. In his second version retitled “You Done Tamed Me,” the inspiration is from Billy Bigelow’s “Soliloquy” from Carousel where he sings about needing money for his unborn child with its catalog of synonyms for stealing. “Corn Puddin’ ” started by the Townspeople and added to by Melissa was suggested by “This Was a Real Nice Clambake” from Carousel as well as “Shipoopi” in The Music Man. “The Leprechaun Song” is quite obviously inspired by Og in Burton Lane’s Finian’s Rainbow who is also a leprechaun.

“The Picnic Basket Auction” is reminiscent of the Box Social at the beginning of Act Two of Oklahoma! Danny’s “Enjoy the Ride” is derivative of Guys and Dolls’ “If I Were a Bell.” Betsy’s “Not That Kind of Gal” is reminiscent of Ado Annie in Oklahoma! Florence Menlove and Melissa’s duet “What’s the Matter with Men?” incorporates ideas from both Carousel’s “You’re a Queer One, Julie Jordan” and Bye Bye Birdie’s “Kids (What’s the matter with kids today?”). The company’s “Cross That Bridge” combines ideas in two Frank Loesser scores: “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat” in Guys and Dolls and “Brotherhood of Man” in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. And that is just the first act. The game of name that song is just as much fun in Act Two where the parodies also derive from The Sound of Music.

As Melissa, Chase is feisty and independent as Cecily Strong was on television, while Brightman is just as downbeat and perturbed to  find himself in a musical as Keegan-Michael Key originally was. Ana Gasteyer (in the Kristin Chenoweth role) as the minister’s wife Mildred Layton, the self-appointed arbiter of everyone’s morals, is a hoot as the villain of the piece. Harada brings the same cheerful melancholy to the ignored wife of the mayor. Brad Oscar has fun with the role of Mayor Menlove who is having trouble with his undeclared attraction to men. Isabelle McCalla (who created the roles of Marlena in Water for Elephants and Alyssa in The Prom) is a strong, powerful woman as the shunned schoolmarm.

Max Clayton, a perennial in Broadway musicals, brings his sly, seductive ways to Danny Bailey, the lonely carnival manager. Both Ivan Hernandez as Doc Lopez and Maulik Pancholy as Reverend Layton aren’t given enough to do but make the most of their few opportunities. McKenzie Kurtz as the man-hungry Betsy steals every scene she is in including those with her father (Nathan Lucrezio) who always carries a rifle. Nine-year-old Ayaan Diop is endearing as Carson Tate whose lisp keeps him from making friends.

The physical production is decidedly an homage to golden age musicals. Gattelli’s charming choreography is redolent of the ballets of Agnes de Mille but at times also reminds us of those of Michael Kidd, Jerome Robbins and Onna White. Scott Pask’s eye-filling picture book settings are reminiscent of the small-town locales in Vincente Minnelli’s classic Meet Me in St. Louis. The lighting by Donald Holder adds as much color as can be possibly brought to the turn-of-the-century sets. Linda Cho’s colorful costumes are a feast for the eye. The period hair styles are the work of Tom Watson.

Unless you are one of the few people who doesn’t like Golden Age musicals from Rodgers and Hammerstein through Frank Loesser, you will find Cinco Paul’s Schmigadoon! an absolute delight. And whether you can identify the references and quotes to the songs from those shows or not, you can appreciate the artistry and cleverness involved with recreating that era. The snide remarks of Melissa and Josh also update mores from a different time and place. Here’s hoping that Cinco Paul gets to put Season Two of Schmigadoon! on stage next.

Schmigadoon! (through September 6, 2026)

Nederlander Theatre, 208 W. 41^st Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.schmigadoonbroadway.com

Running time: two hours and 30 minutes including one intermission