Schmigadoon! Season 2 Double Episode Premiere Review: Welcome To... Schmicago?
Mary Littlejohn
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If you love musicals, there is nothing better than Schmigadoon! Season 2.
On Schmigadoon! Season 2 Episode 1 Schmigadoon! Season 2 Episode 1, Melissa and Josh, married and discontent, try to recapture the magic they found in Schmigadoon, only to find the dark and gritty city of Schmicago.
However, since it's something different from their lives (as well as musical and magical), they decide to give it a shot, but neither of them really knows what they're in for.
As a musical theatre aficionado of the highest order, I shall do my level best to catch every wink and nod (and bump and grind), but this show is so jam-packed with references that some may slip by.
The city of Schmicago exists out-of-time, but obviously leans into the '20s and '30s of Chicago and Cabaret (Kander and Ebb's most enduring masterworks).
There are also hippies and, as we can glean from the opening number, orphans and Sweeney Todd-style characters too.
The Schmigaverse also shares some parallels with Narnia in that it jumps ahead in time at a faster rate than our world.
There's a lot of mythology that may never be explained -- who are these people that take on new personas in each incarnation? Are they enchanted/cursed? Are they spirits or fae? Does it matter?
It's mostly just a vehicle for these incredible performers to showcase their talents and send-up this genre that already exists in a heightened reality.
The leprechaun (hello, Martin Short!) doesn't seem to offer any useful information beyond "make a happy ending."
We got song, we got dance
Narrator
Lots of sex, no romance
If nothing else, this is a Fosse-heavy world.
The opening number, "Welcome To Schmicago," is a direct homage to "Magic To Do" from Stephen Schwartz's 1972 musical Pippin.
Tituss Burgess channels both Ben Vereen and Patina Miller (who both portrayed the Leading Player in Pippin) and somehow makes the role of the Narrator entirely his own.
He has confidence, sassiness, and a defiantly powerful tenor voice. He's new to the cast this season and needs to be in every subsequent season from here on out.
At one point, a lot of musicals had narrators, you know, like, instead of a story.
Melissa
Burgess isn't the only superstar shining here. Dove Cameron, who was perfectly perky in Season 1, gets to sink her teeth into the Sally Bowles-type character and succeeds with aplomb.
Her manic flouncing is just over-the-top enough to be a loving parody. She's an underrated physical comedienne, too, just watch her first meeting with Josh and Melissa!
Her Cabaret-style number (complete with iconic chair choreography a la "Mein Herr") is a tour de force.
Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key are funny and charming together as ever. Lampshade hanging (pointing out the narrative device being used) is hard to do well, but somehow Schmigadoon! does it perfectly.
It's self-aware but celebrates the thing it's satirizing without denigrating it.
Key and Strong's commentary on the events around them allows us to laugh at the silly tropes in musicals -- which somehow makes those tropes more enjoyable because we've acknowledged how ridiculous they are.
And Melissa is absolutely right to drag those imperfect rhymes. They are LAZY!
It's also so on point that Josh is way more into this type of musical than he was about the Schmigadoon era. This time around, he's the one that insists they stay for a night rather than Melissa.
Stop it! Would you wave hello to Sutton Foster in The Music Man because you remember her from Thoroughly Modern Millie?
Melissa
Even though they are trying to escape their problems, things still tend to go wrong. A patient's father threatens to send Josh to prison -- and Josh ends the episode behind being taken to jail.
Ariana DeBose as the Emcee is genius casting. Who else could go for a Broadway revival of Cabaret featuring Emcee DeBose nd Dove Cameron as Sally Bowles? Anyone?
"Do We Shock You?" is such a hilarious send-up, not just of "Big Spender" from Sweet Charity, but the fact that, though these musicals were progressive and daring for their time, 50 years on, we're all extremely desensitized to this kind of material.
Taboos are the norm, and who knows how future generations will look back on media from nowadays?
The dance ensemble is stellar, and Christopher Gattelli's choreography is spot-on Fosse-esque. They really are putting a lot of effort into it! Good for them!
On Schmigadoon! Season 2 Episode 2, we are treated to two Tony-winners being their best selves -- Aaron Tveit as Topher and Jane Krakowski as Bobby Flanagan.
We need a case that’s all about flim-flam, flap-doodle, and pizzazz!
Bobbie Flanagan
We all know Aaron Tveit was a flawless singer (if you didn't, where have you been?), but who knew he was so funny? Topher is so ridiculous and very Hair-forward.
"Doorway To Where" is a perfect parody of "Corner Of The Sky" from Pippin (again!) but also serves as a great comedic I Want song that could easily find its way into every young tenor's audition book a few months from now.
Jane Krakowski plays an amalgam of both Billy Flynn and Roxie Hart from Chicago, named Bobby, likely in homage to the recent Broadway revival of Sondheim's Company.
Krakowski is sensational, proving again that this is what she does best, sliding into Bobby's slick speech pattern and oozing with sexy panache.
I got my BA from BU, my LLD from NYU and and my L-E-G-S from G-O-D.
Bobbie Flanagan
And, yes, sorry, Melissa, even with lady lawyers, we're still technically in a 1920s-inspired town -- there's no escaping misogyny.
There's also the A Chorus Line-inspired number (how do they fit so many musicals in?!) "I Need To Eat," parodying "I Hope I Get It."
Once again, the dance ensemble knocks it out of the park with their delivery, and though this song is funny, it definitely felt the most real, especially if you've ever been a starving performer.
Cecily Strong once again proves not just how funny she is but taps into moments of tender vulnerability -- also has a beautiful singing voice.
And who hasn't been at an audition where everyone seems to pick up the choreo faster than you? (Just me? Okay).
Confession, I’m not much of a dancer. In theatre camp, I was more of a double threat.
Melissa
We get the episode's title "Bustin' Out" from a trio performed by Cameron, Strong, and DeBose.
It's in the style of "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" from Sondheim's Company -- a number which is itself inspired by the Andrews Sisters.
You can't ask for more; it's just pure bubbly joy, not to mention all the jail-themed puns to play over Josh actually busting out of prison with Topher on the Happiness Bus.
Schmigadee-death!
Narrator
There are also so many little musical Easter eggs thrown in for us fans.
Here are just a few we caught:
- The showgirls at the Kratt Club are named after the orphans from the musical Annie
- All except Elsie, who is a reference to the dead room-mate in the song "Cabaret" (Cabaret)
- The female barfly (Karin Konoval) who yells, "I'll drink to that!" is a reference to the character Joanne in Sondheim's Company and her song "The Ladies Who Lunch." She's even drinking what looks like a vodka stinger. (Fun fact: Konoval played Joanne in a 2007 production of Company in Vancouver, Canada!)
- The music when Josh and Melissa are in the woods is slightly reminiscent of Into The Woods (mid-'80s Sondheim, but still a delight!)
- Madame Frau gives Melissa some rouge for her knees, a reference to the lyrics of "All That Jazz" from Chicago
- Jenny does a quick change (who in theatre hasn't had to do a quick change?)
- Conrad (Birdie from the 1960 musical Bye Bye Birdie) is in prison for touching a girl
- The Sound Of Music monologue in "I Need To Eat"
- Jessica Vosk in the cereal aisle!
Alice Mathias directs both episodes, and she has done a superb job capturing the gritty feel of these darker musicals while bringing out just enough comedy in everyone's performances to make it consistently fun.
Josh: It’ll be fun, it’s an adventure.
Melissa: Adventure? This is like that season of American Horror Story I gave up on.
Everyone's a little bit extra, but not too much. Ann Harada and Patrick Page, in particular, skirt this line marvelously.
Every one of Cinco Paul's songs is sublime. His lyrics are endlessly clever.
Coupled with Doug Besterman's orchestrations and Christopher Willis's score, this is a musical that could easily be its own thing. We need Schmigadoon and Schmicago live on stage.
Two episodes in, and sadly we've only got fleeting glances at Broadway legends Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming, so that would be my only complaint. No doubt they will take the spotlight in upcoming episodes.
Well, one more complaint is that the episodes are only half an hour long, and the whole season is only six episodes. It keeps us wanting more!
Schmigadoon! is a show that caters to hardcore musical theatre nerds (and I count myself among them), but having Josh and Melissa as the central, grounded characters gives it a broader appeal.
They don't get all the references and are often weirded out, but they are still drawn to it because it's an escape. That's how normal people feel about musicals, right?
Regarding the familiarity of references for the average viewer, it's likely a mixed bag. The 2002 film version of Chicago won five Oscars, and the revival is still playing on Broadway.
Other shows, like Pippin and Sweet Charity, might not have the name-brand recognition of Sweeney Todd or Cabaret, but the musical numbers they're parodying are pretty entertaining in their own right.
You don't need to get the references to enjoy watching this show.
One of the greatest joys of these first two episodes of Schmigadoon! Season 2 is seeing performers at the top of their game, having an absolute blast in material worthy of their talents. We can't wait for more!
What were your favorite numbers? Did you catch any musical theatre references we might have missed? Let us know in the comments!
Mary Littlejohn Mary Littlejohn was a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic.
