An annoying trend? A new party game? yes!...Maybe...THE MUSICAL
By Ryan Bogner (Producer, Wingnut)
I was struck with a flash of inspiration after recieving a text from my friend, Broadway's Jason Michael Snow. That was just the following image:
...
This of course plays into two trends of the off-off broadway, off-broadway and festival scene...shows about quirks of the theater that no one in the general public knows or cares about... and shows that are about random subjects titled with just the noun and the words "The Musical" trailing after them.
We've had Golf the musical, Balls the Musical, Boobs the Musical and even Sistas the musical. All of which got me thinking. Why don't we just open the dictionary to a random word and write a show about whatever word we land on?
In the first experience my friend Travis landed on the word Cerise, which is a color name for a reddish brown color. I landed on Mesothelioma which is a type of cancer that is caused by exposure to Asbestos, which clearly would make the better musical of the two.
MESOTHELIOMA: THE MUSICAL! Its a story of a courageous huckster law firm, fighting for YOUR RIGHTS.
All of which is to say, I think this could make a pretty excellent party game (or a great musical theater improv show at UCB).
All you need is a dictionary. Flip to any page in the dictionary and point to a word. You must come up with the plot, a song title and what star will star in (word you randomly select) the musical! Also it has to be a noun. So if you land on a verb or adjective or god forbid an adverb, pick again.
Here's a few to get you started (selected at random):
Screech Owl: The Musical!
Knuckle: The Musical!
Progesterone: The Musical!
Enjoy!
RYAN BOGNER is a New York based Theater Producer. He has produced Yeast Nation, Here Lies Love, Hurricane and Hey, You Know What Movie Would Make a Good Musical? among others, and is working towards an MFA in Theater Management and Producing at Columbia University. www.heyyouknowwhatproductions.com
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