OMG! Mega-RAVE review for "The Question W Revue"

nostamj

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Thu Aug-05-04 11:28 AM
Original message

OMG! Mega-RAVE review for "The Question W Revue"

Edited on Thu Aug-05-04 11:46 AM by nostamj

BACK STAGE is *the* industry paper. This is just HUGE for us.

Pulling Out the Stops

I guess it was inevitable that George W. Bush would make it into the cabaret arena. This happened in the form of an hour of timely sociopolitical madness called "The Question W Revue," which will return later in August to the Duplex. The show stars cabaret favorites Joan Crowe, Rob Landgeder, Sue Matsuki and Miles Phillips, with musical direction by John Bowen and clever direction by Jay Rogers. Original songs are by Brooks Cowan (music) and Jeff Matson (lyrics).

Attacking each skit with buffoonery, the show flaunts fast-paced silliness and wacky campiness with brio. The result is an hour that is wildly funny and irreverent. It is an outrageous musical satire that rips into today's headlines and take the audience into an off-the-wall 'no sin zone.'

The show takes shots at the alleged lies of the Bush administration, the shourtcomings of the liberal media in exposing them, and numerous other targets through a series of original songs, parodies of show tunes, sketches, and rants, taking on a life of its own thanks to the energetic cast. Starting with "The Opening Number" followed by "Bushspeak," with biting lyric lines like "The most shocking thing about this show is that it's all true...and Halliburton hasn't found a way to profit from it," establishes the tone of the frenzied hour, opening a Pandora's box of Bush bashing and acerbic rhetoric borrowed from today's headlines.

Phillips proved effective delivering "Something I Never Considered," a profound ballad about disappointment. Crowe and Matsuki were hysterical as they bantered together, told political jokes, and ended up in the sidesplitting number "A Dream" tangoing across the stage as lesbian lovers. Crowe also stood out on "The Right Kind of Hymn," a campy country-western ditty about gay bashing. Still, as talented as this cast is, it was handsome Rob Langeder who was a revelation in a tour de force performance. Particularly on "T.M.H.M.O.E." (which stands for "The Most Hated Man on Earth"), he pulled out all the stops with his striking voice and excellent musical-comedy skills. With a strong musical theatre background, he was a showstopper on this ambitious ode to hypocrisy, running a gamet of emotions.

No one connected with the current administration or media is safe for attack in this clever show (wait till you see what they do to Attorney General John Ashcroft and controversial Fox News host Bill O'Reilly). Regardless of your political persuasion or cynicism, the show has lethal doses of mass appeal and lots of lighthearted controversy in what is sure to be one of the most talked about revues of the year. You may not agree, but you'll have a ball.

- John Hoglund BACK STAGE