THE HANGOVER REPORT – DISASTER! strikes Broadway against all odds

Disaster1LifeSaversDisaster! by all accounts shouldn’t work – but it does. Against considerable odds, Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick’s 1970s disaster movie mash-up cum jukebox musical spoof made the huge leap from the tiny St. Luke’s to Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre this winter. Admittedly, I was a huge fan of the Off-Broadway incarnation, not necessarily because it was a well-made musical, but because of its delicious shamelessness. It was unafraid to go for the cheap laughs and insert disco era singles at either the most inopportune or the most cheesily obvious moments. In a lot of ways, Disaster! has more in common with stand-up comedy and fringy improve theater than musical theater. At St. Luke’s, it was all deliriously campy and escapist fun.

How has it translated to the Great White Way? Although I do miss some key performances (Mary Testa, Mary Testa, Mary Testa), I’m happy to report remarkably well. Even if the show isn’t for everyone – the production is directed (Jack Plotnick) and designed (Tobin Ost and William Ivey Long did the sets and costumes, respectively) with a looseness that may strike some as simply lazy – I’m glad that the show’s impromptu “let’s put on a show” feel remains intact. The Broadway edition stars such stage luminaries as Roger Bart, Kerry Butler, Kevin Chamberlin, Adam Pascal, Faith Prince, Rachel York, and Seth Rudetsky himself, who are all clearly having a ball up there. However, the runaway star of the musical is in my mind Jennifer Simard, whose Sister Mary Downy is one of theater’s single most hilarious comic creations since, well, James Corden’s Francis Henshall conquered Broadway four years ago.

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DISASTER!
Broadway, Musical
Nederlander Theatre
2 hours, 5 minutes (with one intermission)
Through July 3

Categories: Broadway, Theater

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