The Musical of Musicals (The Musical)
The evil landlord is threatening to close down the theatre because the company of players can’t pay the rent…or can they? All they need to do is to produce a big hit, the question is which one? But then there’s the problem of getting the rights to the shows. With five remaining chances to impress the landlord, will the players be able to make a big hit in time to save their theatre?…
This show was first performed in 2003 at The York Theatre Company in New York, America. After which it ran at New World Stages in 2005. In 2006, it made its London debut at Sound theatre (Which was later demolished). The current run at the Phoenix Arts Club is being produced by Matty Hurst Productions.
If you’re going to produce a show which heavily parodies the works of the musical theatre giants, where better to house it then at Phoenix Arts Club. The venue, with it’s speakeasy like atmosphere, gives us the feeling that we’re about to enter into something illicit.
The set just consists of a screen along the back wall, which projects various backgrounds. Home made/cheap looking props and set pieces, such as a blow up dingy and a knife and paint pallet, are brought onto stage at various points and the actors wear a range of costume-cupboard costumes over the top of their theatre blacks. All of this makes sense with the given circumstances of the show centering around a broke, amateur dramatics group. It also effectively aids the comedy by playing to the spoof-esque style of the show, creating the kind of visual gags you’re likely to find in a university student society show.
How to describe this show?…it's definitely fearless. The creative team, which consists of Eric Rockwell (book and music) and Joanne Bogart (book and lyrics), both know their musical theatre history inside-out and don’t pull back any punches. Following the mentality of Mel Brooke’s ‘The Producers’: if you’re going to offend anyone, offend everyone, this show really isn’t afraid of harmless offensive comedy. There are points where we aren’t sure if we should be laughing, but then the jokes they make aren’t entirely inaccurate either. No one is safe, the musicals of: Rodgers and Hammerstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jerry Herman, Sondheim and Kander and Ebb, are all getting the parody treatment.
The best way to describe the musical spoof stylings of MOMTM is with an example. During the amateur group’s production of ‘Aspects of Junita’, as Phantom tries to lure Junita into his neon orange blow up dingy, we discover that beneath the mask he’s actually a cat wearing a cape of many colours.
It must be said that in spite of having been created in the early two thousands, the comedy still holds up, which we think is really impressive considering how subjective comedy is and how prone it is to going out of date.
The cast really commit to the show and give it their all, in some ways deliberately overplaying some scenes to remind us that this is an amateur group, who are all panicked and frantically trying everything they can to achieve their goal. The cast’s voices are incredible and their talents as actors are not to be underestimated, a representation of carefully considered and well selected casting. Everything from their vocal tones and pace to their physicality, changes dramatically as they transition between the different musicals. This is particularly entertaining to watch because this type of performance (especially given that the direction also changes to reflect the tropes of the musicals) is very difficult to pull off when also considering how extremely varied the stylings of the writers are, making these actors performances even more of a showcase of skill.
Renan Teodoro’s skills as a performer in particular are not to be underestimated. Playing both the host of the amateur dramatics company and the villain in every single one of the parody shows, he has the most beautiful bass voice. He demonstrates his knowledge of various portrayals of villains, from the clear to the ambiguous, to the full, switching seamlessly from Emcee to Sweey Todd.
So who is this musical really for? It really has a specific audience in mind- this is a musical written by theatre fans for theatre people. Given how specific the vast majority of the references are, whilst it may still be quite funny to watch, it may not make the most sense to people who don’t know their musical theatre history or don’t know at least something about all of the writers portrayed. That being said, it does take a machete to these writers, so if you’re easily offended (this musical really does target theatre people, taking the mick out of audiences and producers alike) or a particularly diehard fan of any of these writers or revivals, you have been warned.
What's the point of this musical? To show how hard and expensive it is to write/produce a show let alone a big hit, highlighting the gatekeeping in the industry by the musical giants, expected tropes/ideas about what audiences want (“sentimentality, spectacle, star power, sophistication, sex”), and how much amateur dramatics groups have to fight to stay alive when surrounded by revivals and mega-musicals/tried and tested hits. It argues that dedicated performers and musical fans alike are not to be underestimated, given that they’re battling against all of the above and trying to make something original when sometimes everything feels like it has been done before.
Utterly hilarious, unapologetically honest and a great tribute to musical fans. Energetic and ultimately great fun to watch even if you’re not entirely sure what you have just watched.
This show was reviewed on the 21st May 2025 at The Phoenix Arts Club, London.
Review written by Megan O'Neill
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