TL;DR: if you loved Heated Rivalry, and/or if your diaphragm is bored and you’d like to entertain it by laughing for 75 straight minutes, go and see The Heated Rivalry Unauthorized Parody Musical at The Culture Club on West 27th in New York.
I’ve written pretty often about how much I love affectionate satire and parody. You might have guessed from the past 21 years of our examination of romance fiction that this might be my jam. So clearly THRUPM would appeal to me, right?
Except I thought I didn’t like musicals. But would you believe that because of THRUPM, I figured out why I didn’t think musicals were for me and how wrong I was?
This is a powerful show, folks.
I do like musicals! And I like this one especially because it’s cheeky, enthusiastic, sarcastic, clever, and so freaking funny. Every inhale was a laugh on the exhale.
This is the official description of The Heated Rivalry Unauthorized Parody Musical:
Inspired by the hit show about hockey, Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody follows starry-eyed golden boy Shane Hollander on his journey from power center to power bottom.
Relive all of the moments from the show that made you wet (with tears) up close on the small-stage by an incredible cast of Broadway actors who thought they were auditioning to be in Season 2. Sporting a bop-infused score, scene-stealing cameos by characters like “Rose Landry” and “Ilya’s Ass”, and time jumps absolutely no one can keep track of, audiences will find themselves hot, bothered, and probably saying, “….Girl!”
Because with love, sometimes it comes when you least expect it… and sometimes, it comes hands-free. So, grab a Canada Dry and join us for this hot and steamy romp!
Accurate copy is accurate.
The theater is a small venue on 27th between 10th and 11th avenue, with a lobby on the first floor and the theater several floors above (the audience is escorted to the elevator by a volunteer usher – ours had seen the show more than 10 times and loved it still).
This is the entrance ticket before the box office:
The framing of the show starts in the first number, where three Susans explain how watching the show was all they could think about, and now that “the lunches are packed” and the husbands has been given her iPad and told to “go play,” they’re ready to re-watch.
Their re-watch is the musical, with Susan 1, played by Ryann Redmond (WHO IS FABULOUS) and the other cast members retelling the plot with a few minor and hilarious changes.
I’m not a theater critic by a long shot, and don’t feel as qualified to evaluate a musical production as I do a historical romance with a “musicale” in it, but this show rocked my socks clean off.
Dylan MarcAurele wrote the book, music, and the lyrics, and holy crap. I would stutter and blink a lot and form half words if I met them; seriously, I am in awe of this person’s talent. The songs are lyrically hilarious, and swing from silliness to surprisingly touching without warning. I should not expect to find myself tearing up from a song titled, “Cold Heart, Big Ass.”
Every person on the stage was jaw dropping good.
The acting, singing, stage direction, choreography, writing, and the score were all top notch, and all of it was performed like a sort of DIY high-school-theater production with interchangeable set pieces on wheels, and a very, very small stage. The theater itself is also small, and that enhances the exuberant “we’re all having a ball together” feeling of the show.
Jimin Moon, who plays Shane, was magnetic. He even imitated some of Hudson Williams’ expressions and mannerisms to the point that he looked a LOT like Hudson on stage. Jay Armstrong Jones held all the cold intensity and smolder of Ilya and his dangly cigarette, and as the story progressed, allowed that coldness to become almost clumsy, like Ilya was tripping over his own persona. Rose Landry gets her own number, which is excellent, and yes, Ilya’s Ass is a whole plot point.
…”point’ is too small a word. Plot mound? Plot dump truck? Ilya’s ass is a whole thing, is what I’m saying.
My favorite part was the audience. There were four Rozanov jerseys, two Hollanders and a Hunter, and an audience comprised of a very wide range of ages and styles. When I arrived, there were older-than-me couples waiting already, and what looked like a small book club.
Then a group of four sat down next to me in the lobby, and the women started telling their partners what Heated Rivalry is about while they were going upstairs to the theater.
Surprise! (All of them were laughing the entire show.)
I love the energy of being with people who love something tremendously and also poke gentle fun at it with sharp, clever wordplay. There are more innuendos in this show than there are in the entire archive of this website. Every person involved seemed to be having a great time, and what’s more, they were as earnestly engaged with their respective characters as they were winking at the story and at the audience.
If you find yourself able to see it, or want to make a trip to NYC for it (I did) it’s extremely worth the effort. As of right now, tickets are available through 7 September.
Some of the most talented people in every department came together to create this hysterical confection of a show. This was truly one of the most fun, silly, campy, loving, and funny performances I have ever seen, ever.
For more information:
- The Heated Rivalry the Unauthorized Musical Parody website (Tickets here!)
- Additional photos of the cast at EW: “Heated Rivalry takes the stage: First look at Ilya and Shane in The Unauthorized Musical Parody (exclusive)” by Nick Romano
- Photos from the premiere at Playbill.com.
- And, of course, the trailer.
