The standard American musical is a campy, stagy affair that makes almost anything seem completely absurd. Given the right treatment, waiting in line at the DMV, shopping for groceries or even doing one’s taxes could be transformed into a quite successful Broadway musical complete with huge sets and massive song and dance routines. If only Broadway could take a brief pause from its obsession with film adaptations, it could really begin to appreciate the musical possibilities in the most mundane aspects of life.
In the spirit of bringing the mundane to the stage this month, the Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove opens its production of Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical by Bob and Jim Walton.
Directed by Sunset Artistic Director Mark Salentine, the show stars Glenn Villa, James A. Skiba, Mary DeBattista, J.W. Anderson and more. The Waltons . . . uhh . . . Jim and Bob’s show is a musical montage of different aspects of mid-life “from gravity to gray hair.” Reviews of other productions sound very positive. As old as some jokes get, there’s no humor that can’t be made a little bit more fresh by staging it in a campy musical theatre piece. Judging from the musical’s website, it would appear as though the show has only been around for about five years. Odd that it took so long for someone to come-up with an idea that seems pretty obvious. As obvious as the idea sounds, it really could be a lot of fun, particulary with Salentine directing the show on the Sunset Playhouse mainstage.
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The Sunset’s production of Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical runs January 15 – 31st in Elm Grove.
