JUNE 28, 2018 // 13
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of “Cabaret” and “Chicago”
round out the parody.
Eventually, the heroine
learns how she will pay her
rent — maybe.
The show is directed by
Patrick Lathrop, the Coaster’s
executive director. Katherine
Lacaze, who has performed in
several productions, is assistant
director and choreographed
two of the five scenarios.
“I was looking for singers
who had the confidence to
sing,” said Lathrop about the
four-member cast.
“There are singers, and
then there are singers,” he
added. “If you ask somebody,
‘Do you sing?’ and they go,
‘Oh yeah, I sing.’ Then you
ask somebody, ‘Oh yeah, I
sing really well’; there’s the
difference.”
And then there are singers
who can act while they’re
singing — not always an easy
thing to do.
But Darren Hull, Richard
Bowman, Ann Bronson and
Cameron Lira, who have
worked together in many
Coaster productions, had
the confidence and acting
skills Lathrop sought. Their
experience and friendship also
are evident in the way they
engage on the stage.
Layers of jokes
Lathrop, who has a degree
in musical theater, said he
enjoys the parodies and jokes
in the show.
Although each version
stands as a “musical” by itself,
there are satirical nods within
that scenario to other musicals
written by each composer.
“Corn!,” for instance, includes
hints of “Carousel,” “Oklaho-
ma,” “The Sound of Music,”
“The King and I,” “Cinderel-
la,” “Flower Drum Song” and
“South Pacific.”
“Once we got into it, I
realized the music was very
complex,” Lathrop said. “Like
the Sondheim — they’ve
(lyricist and composer Joanne
Bogart and Eric Rockwell)
taken the Sondheim, but
they’ve parodied him, and in
doing that, they’ve taken what
GEORGE VETTER PHOTOS
LEFT: From left: Ann Bronson, Darren Hull, Richard Bowman and
Cameron Gates-Lira strike a pose during a dress rehearsal of ‘The
Musical of Musicals (The Musical!).’ ABOVE: Cameron Gates-Lira,
left, and Ann Bronson rehearse a scene from the production.
he does, which is difficult, and
made it even more difficult
within the parody.”
Most of the shows being
parodied Lathrop has either
seen or worked on. An audience
should be able to understand
the underlying winks to other
works as well, he added.
“If you’ve seen the movie,
you’re going to get the jokes,”
Lathrop said. “But the silly lit-
tle shows stand on their own.
The characters are strong. The
songs are really delightful lit-
tle songs, and if you listen to
the lyrics, they’re very funny.”
He points to a lyric sung
in a speakeasy: “Here at the
speakeasy it’s hard to say.”
Or, “The hills are alive … but
you’re half dead.”
Lira and Bronson say they
discover nuances at every
rehearsal.
“Every bit is nine jokes or
deeper,” Lira said. “We really
had to do our homework.”
‘Safety net’ of
friendship
Bronson, who played
Dolly Gallagher Levi several
years ago in a Coaster pro-
duction of “Hello, Dolly!,” is
familiar with a character in
the Jerry Herman scenario.
The woman poses majestical-
ly at the top of a staircase and
claims, “I can’t sing or dance,
but I’m the star of the show.”
“I’m not doing the Irish ac-
cent this time (as she did with
Dolly), but I realized that I’ve
been this character,” Bronson
said. “I’ve seen you before.”
While Bronson’s favorite
scenario is the speakeasy, Lira
enjoys the Sondheim version
“because I get to sing snippets
of songs of roles I haven’t
played before,” she said.
Among those songs is one
about birds flying around her
head:
“Why do the birds fly
Around my golden hair?
Are they building nests up
there?”
Lira, who plays the heroine
June, Jeune, Juney-Fae, Junita
and Juny, remembers her
mother doing the “can’t pay
my rent” melodrama by using
a napkin to imitate the roles.
Heroine (napkin, like a
bow, at the side of the head):
“I can’t pay the rent.”
Landlord (napkin, like a
mustache, above the top lip):
“You must pay the rent.”
Hero (napkin, like a bow
tie, at the neck): “I’ll pay the
rent.”
Heroine (napkin, like a
hair bow): “My hero.”
Although the music is
complex and the choreography
is tricky, the cast members
obviously enjoy performing
together, thanks to the friend-
ships built on and off stage.
“There’s a safety in that;
we have the freedom to
explore, the freedom to make
idiots of ourselves,” Lira said.
“It’s fun to have people
you’ve worked with over the
past 10 years to help you pull
off a joke.” CW