I very rarely put up reviews of shows I have been to as reviews on this blog, I cant be sure but I think I have done at least one of these types of reviews before. Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical originally began in the US where it won a variety of awards including Best New Musical at the Broadway World Off-Broadway Awards. The show then got licenced out worldwide, with the show I watched last Saturday (23rd March 2024) at Derngate, Northampton being one such professional licencing which is touring the UK this year.
When I watched this I happened to both be suffering a bit of a sleep deprived hangover (the after effects of drinking really do affect you more as you get older!), as well as a (currently undiagnosed) sinus infection, so that is sure to have some part to play at least in my impressions of this, as will my writing this a few days after I saw the show. Still, I went with my dad and my sister and got their impressions just to make this review a little more balanced. Something I won't factor in was the show briefly stopping for around ten minutes halfway through the first half due to technical issues. It was annoying but out of control of the performers, I especially felt bad for one of them stranded on stage hiding behind a chair for the entirety of the stoppage!
You would have to be living under a rock to not realise this is a parody of Stranger Things. This follows the basic plot of season one, though does fit to include some references to events from later seasons, as well as includes some characters who hadn't joined the show at this point. Basically, in the quiet town of Hawkins a young boy named Will has gone missing while cycling home one dark night. With not much ever happening in the town this comes as quite the shock. His best friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas set out to search for him, and encounter a strange girl named Eleven who has escaped from a nearby science facility. They, along with a bunch of other town folk soon learn of a twisted alternate reality known as the 'Upside Down' where a terrifying monster resides.
First up I will speak of the performers, none of which I could fault. I was surprised just how much like the characters from the show these people resembled, purely via the use of wigs and similar clothes. I thought the woman who played Joyce was the one who most resembled the character she was parodying and gave a manic chain-smoking impersonation. Amusingly the part of Will was done by a small muppet that the Joyce performer was controlling, less distracting than you might think. Least like its actual show counterpart was the man who played the role of Dr. Martin Brenner. Here, he was a more stereotypical madman, wild white hair and constantly breaking out into maniacal cackles, with an aim to take over the country. Despite that, his was a fun performance also. The decision was made to have the person playing the music to actually be on stage in the corner. On occasion she would have mild interaction with the cast, so it wasn't as odd as it could have been, but she still seemed fairly separate from everything else that was going on.
The music really wasn't for me, and I never expected it would be. This seemed like something you would find in High School Musical, lots of wide smiling faces, extremely exaggerated performances, as well as some genuinely impressive choreography. People throwing props to each other, dancing in unison, people doing the splits, kicking their legs up high and spinning people around their shoulders. All very impressive despite me not liking that style of song and dance. I wouldn't say there was a standout song, I think the one which is about the films of actress Winona Ryder was probably the weakest.
The show sped along at quite a speed and there were plenty of jokes made about some of the weaker parts of the plot. In particular, here, Barbara became much more of a character than in the show, with it made fun of several times how her and Nancy were meant to be best friends, yet Nancy completely forgets about her once she has been taken. Stranger Things has plenty of humour to it anyway, but there were still some funny moments, such as Jonathan being even more of an awkward weirdo, Hopper and his attempt to tell his tragic past story constantly being interrupted and references to future events both in dialogue and character appearances.
Stranger Sings! The Musical Parody was something that I expected would either be amazing or terrible. Actually though, it was for me just decent. If I liked that style of singing and dancing I would have enjoyed this a whole lot more. Technical issues aside, the performers seemed perfectly suited for their roles, they all seemed really into it, and brought the characters to life. I will finish with some quotes from my family, with my dad saying "It's not really my sort of thing but it was ok", and my sister stating "I enjoyed it. Wasn't the best thing I've seen but have certainly seen worse!".
SCORE:
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