The Apple TV series Schmigadoon is now a hit on Broadway.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
“Schmigadoon!,” a loving spoof of golden age Broadway musicals – think “Oklahoma!,” “Carousel,” “The Music Man” – opened on Broadway last night to good reviews. And as Jeff Lunden reports, it developed in a decidedly unconventional way.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SCHMIGADOON!”)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (As characters, singing) Schmigadoon, where the sun shines bright from July to June and the air’s as sweet…
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: For decades, Broadway shows had out-of-town tryouts in cities like Boston or Philadelphia to polish their material. But “Schmigadoon!’s” creator, Cinco Paul, says its first iteration was on a streaming television service.
CINCO PAUL: I think of, in some ways, the Apple TV+ version as our out-of-town tryouts.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SCHMIGADOON!”)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (As characters, singing) Schmigadoon, Schmigadoon.
LUNDEN: The six-part series about a contemporary couple in therapy who get trapped in a magical town where everybody sings old-fashioned songs ran in 2021. Last year, the stage version of “Schmigadoon!” actually did have a tryout at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Still, Paul says…
PAUL: This is not a carbon copy of the TV show. There are, like, 10 new songs. There are tons of new jokes. There are plot twists. It is its own creature.
LUNDEN: Things that worked on television don’t translate easily to the stage, like quick cuts to get from one scene to another or flashbacks.
PAUL: You need to really limit your locations and then make a meal out of every time you’re in a scene.
LUNDEN: And those scenes take place on a pastel-colored set with hand-painted backdrops. There are lots of stock character types in “Schmigadoon!” – the bad boy, the flirty young lady, the uptight school marm.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART”)
ISABELLE MCCALLA: (As Emma Tate, singing) When you’ve got a job to do…
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (As characters, singing) When you’ve got a job to do…
MCCALLA: (As Emma Tate, singing) You must try with all your heart.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (As characters, singing) You must try with all your heart.
MCCALLA: (As Emma Tate, singing) Life’s profoundest joys go to girls and boys…
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (As characters, singing) Girls and boys.
MCCALLA: (As Emma Tate, singing) …Who finish what they start.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (As characters, singing) S-T-A-R-T.
LUNDEN: Paul says one participant in an early workshop asked him…
PAUL: Are people going to care about these cardboard cutout characters? And I said, you know, if we treat them as real people, I think the audience will treat them as real people too. So yes, you introduce them as the trope, but then you sort of find, like, well, what’s maybe the pain behind the trope?
LUNDEN: Isabelle McCalla plays Emma, the school teacher, who’s got a lot of secrets, as it turns out.
MCCALLA: Even if we may start two-dimensional for some of the audience members, the way that the storylines and the relationships get fleshed out feels very grounded and real.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ENJOY THE RIDE (PART I)”)
SARA CHASE: (As Melissa, singing) Always used to let my conscience be my guide.
SARA CHASE AND MAX CLAYTON: (As Melissa and Danny, singing) Now it’s time to enjoy the ride.
LUNDEN: “Schmigadoon!’s” creators hope the audience enjoys the ride too. As much as it has fun sending up old musicals, it really wants to provide the satisfaction you would get from watching a show from the ’40s or ’50s. It’s not camp, says director Christopher Gattelli.
CHRISTOPHER GATTELLI: It could be so easy to just hit your favorite nostalgic moments and steps and melodies and things, but I think how Cinco has crafted the show, it feels contemporary in its access to the human heart.
LUNDEN: “Schmigadoon!” has a limited run on Broadway through September. For NPR News, I’m Jeff Lunden in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SCHMIGADOON!”)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (As characters, singing) Schmigadoon, where the sun shines bright from July to June and the air’s as sweet as a macaroon. Schmigadoon.
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