Disaster! (musical)

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Disaster!
A 70s Disaster Movie Musical
215px
Poster for the Off-Broadway production
Book Jack Plotnick
Seth Rudetsky
Setting New York City, 1979
Premiere March 8, 2012 (2012-03-08): Triad Theatre, New York City
Productions 2012 Off-Broadway
2013 Off-Broadway
2016 Los Angeles
2016 Broadway

Disaster! is a musical comedy created and written by Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick.

The show debuted at Triad Theatre, now renamed Stage 72, with choreography by Denis Jones and music supervision by Steve Marzullo on January 22, 2012 and ran through March 25 in its first production.[1] A second production ran from November 2013 through April 2014 at New York’s St. Luke's Theatre.[2] The show opened on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre on March 8, 2016, with previews beginning on February 9, 2016. The show stars Rudetsky, along with Roger Bart, Kerry Butler, Kevin Chamberlin, Adam Pascal, Faith Prince, Rachel York, Max Crumm, and Jennifer Simard. Baylee Littrell (the son of Brian Littrell) and Lacretta Nicole make their Broadway debut.

Disaster! parodies and pays comedic tribute to the genre of 1970s disaster films. In this musical, a group of New Yorkers attends the opening of a floating casino and discothèque that quickly succumbs to multiple disasters. These calamities correlate with plots of various disaster films of the 1970s such as earthquakes or killer bee incidents echoing situations from the films Earthquake and The Swarm respectively. Additionally, this play keeps with a 1970s theme by being a jukebox musical, using popular songs of the decade as musical numbers.[3]

Inception and early development

The origins of Disaster! go back to the early 1990s. While working together in 1992, Seth Rudetsky and Drew Geraci developed the concept of creating a musical reminiscent of the 70s disaster films they both appreciated. The original storyline involved the New York City blackout of 1977 and incorporated the decade’s top songs as both musical numbers and vehicles for comedy.[4]

The concept was left largely untouched until Rudetsky was asked in 2011 to put on a show benefiting the nonprofit organization Only Make Believe. Rudetsky decided to return to his disaster musical idea for the benefit, and in the span of three months, he and Jack Plotnick revised the concept and wrote the first script of Disaster!. Major changes included widening the plot’s range. Instead of focusing on one disaster, the NYC blackout, they decided to introduce a variety of catastrophes common to the popular films of the 1970s that they had grown up watching.[4] The benefit show successfully impressed critics, and from its success, the musical later had a nine show Off-Off-Broadway run before being made into an Off-Broadway production.[5]

A Broadway production directed by Plotnick opened in March 2016 at the Nederlander Theatre, with an all-star cast and choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter. The show is produced by Robert Ahrens, Mickey Liddell/LD Entertainment, Hunter Arnold, James Wesley and Jim Burba and Bob Hayes.[6] The Broadway production closed on May 8, 2016, having run for 32 previews and 72 regular performances.[7] A cast album will be released on September 9, 2016.[8]

Plot

Disaster! takes place in 1979 Manhattan during opening night of the Barracuda, the first floating casino and discothèque in New York.[3] The characters gather to gamble and dance, unaware of impending natural disasters, and the building's lack of safety measures compounds these catastrophes. Notably, the casino's structure was built on a fault line, which causes earthquakes throughout the show.[9] The plot follows several characters' dynamics and interactions throughout the opening night as they deal with various plot elements reminiscent of 1970s disaster cult films such as The Poseidon Adventure and Airport 1975.[10]

Characters

Main named characters.[11]

  • Ted Scheider: A professor and "disaster expert" who tries to warn the others of the impending doom.
  • Tony Delvecchio: The deceitful owner of the casino.
  • Chad Rubin: A flirtatious caterer at the casino who was previously engaged to Marianne.
  • Scott: Friend of Chad's and also a caterer at the casino.
  • Marianne Wilson: Reporter and ex-fiancee of Chad. She left him to pursue her career.
  • Jackie: Lounge singer and mother. She is hoping that Tony will propose.
  • Ben & Lisa: Jackie's twins.
  • Levora: A washed up singer hoping to hit it big in the casino.
  • Sister Mary: A nun with a gambling addiction.
  • Maury: The devoted husband of Shirley.
  • Shirley: The wife of Maury.

Cast

Principal and replacement cast members of the Triad Theatre and St. Luke's Theatre productions.

Character Triad Theater
2012 [12]		 St. Luke's Theatre
previous cast
2013-2014[13]		 St. Luke's Theatre
cast Spring
2014[3][14]		 Nederlander Theatre
2016 [15]
Marianne Carrie Manolakos Haven Burton Maggie McDowell Kerry Butler
Levora Lacretta Nicole Charity Dawson Lacretta Nicole
Tony Delvecchio Clif Thorn John Treacy Egan
Jack Plotnick[16]		 Paul Castree
David Hibbard		 Roger Bart†
Chad Zak Resnick Matt Farcher Adam Pascal
Maury Tom Riis Farrell Kevin Chamberlin
Jackie Lauren Kennedy Michele Ragusa
Mary Birdsong		 Stacey Oristano
Sarah Litzsinger		 Rachel York
Professor Ted Scheider Seth Rudetsky
Scott Paul Castree Robb Sapp Max Crumm
Sister Mary Downy Anika Larsen Jennifer Simard
Ben/Lisa Clark Kelley Oliver Jonah Verdon Baylee Littrell
Shirley Kathy Fitzgerald
Annie Golden [17]		 Mary Testa
Annie Golden		 Judy Gold Faith Prince
Wealthy Husband/Taxi Driver/
Security Guard/Chef		 Saum Eskandani
Woman Who Screams Sherz Aletaha
Wealthy Wife Spring Groove Maggie McDowell Kristy Cavanaugh
Workman#2/Taxi Driver/

Wealthy Husband

Manoel Felciano
Paul Castree

†Tony Delvecchio was played by Will Swenson for one week while Roger Bart was on leave May 1-7, 2016.

Musical numbers

Songs used for musical numbers in Disaster![3][18]

Critical reception

Disaster!’s interpretation of disaster movies from the 1970s has garnered praise.

The musical has received positive reviews from various respected news outlets. The New York Daily News named Disaster! one of its top ten must-see musicals for 2013, claiming that "This spoof of catastrophe-themed movies mixed with ’70s pop hits gushes with Velveeta as well as laughs, great new talents and savvy jukebox craftsmanship.”[19] Time Out New York critic and president of New York Drama Critics' Circle Adam Feldman rated the show five stars, stating, "I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud at the theater as often as I did at Disaster!...with meticulous ingenuity, the show repurposes three dozen classic tunes from the Me Decade to often hilarious effect.” The New York Times Charles Isherwood called the show "self-consciously ditzy," saying that it really "earns that exclamation point."[3]

The 2016 Broadway production received one Tony nomination: Jennifer Simard was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical.[20]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Disaster!_(musical)&oldid=722995047"