The Midnight Train Crossing

A girl from my Spanish class from last semester was ushering, which was pretty cool, so I chatted with her a bit before we finally took our seats - sixth row, quite nearly centered.

First impression, sparkly curtains at the rear of the stage :) Very important.

I thought the show was awesome, the performers all did an awesome job.

The beginning of the show puzzled me at first, because it took me a second to catch on. As normal, before the show started the audience members were chatting, and then the house lights went down, and silence fell... or... was supposed to.
Two of the cast members came out on stage and started to sing the title song, but two audience members continued to talk loudly, it seemed like they were having trouble finding their seats. I was a little annoyed because I wanted to pay attention to the show... and then they stopped the performance, and the actor started arguing with the guy.
Well the "unruly audience members" were actually the other two members of the cast. I figured that out as soon as the two singers stopped the show.

So all four of them sang the title song, and then the lights went down.

First, they spoofed " Can Do " from Guys and Dolls, where they talked about Boy from Oz , Phantom of the Opera (the ticket price), Hairspray and the two Disney ones.
Next came Tomorrow from Annie "Revive me - revive me!" The actress was dressed as Annie, smoking - complete with the wig.
Then, one of the actor came out in a tri-cornered hat, wearing a long cape, holding it stiffly around him. He marched out to the center of the stage and then declared himself to be "Cameron Mackintosh, Napoleon of Broadway, the emperor of Broadway" And, to the tune of My Favorite Things from Sound of Music he sang "These are a few of my souvenir things" and he pulled out things from under his cape, like he was selling watches or something. This was one of my favorite parts. "It costs one hundred dollars to come see the show, and one hundred more to leave"
Then came "Saucy Fossie 'em" to the tune of Razzle Dazzle 'em from Chicago One of the girls sang it, while the two guys wearing vests and bowler hats dance. Making fun of the choreography. Notable lyrics: "Wear a bowler hat"; "Left foot blue, right hand red" "They'll never spot we got no scenery" This was another of my favorites.
They did this routine with a song that I think was called "It's just like Vegas in New York" but that one swept right on past me.
Then one of the actresses came out and did a brilliant parody of Julie Andrews. To the tune of "I could have danced all night" from My Fair Lady , she sang "I couldn't hit the notes all night". I adore Julie Andrews, and this actress did a brilliant impression.
Then out comes the Phantom, singing to the tune of Music of the Night . I'm not sure what the parody song was called, but it was all about microphones, and how the sound guy could fix. "When I'm slightly out of pitch, they just flip the rhythm switch from left to right". He had a very exaggerated breathy voice.
From the back of the theatre, a loud female voice yells out "sing out!" and one of the actresses comes up to the stage (Insulting one of the audience members). She unmasks the Phantom. "Who do you think you are?" he asks, to which she cheerfully responds. "I'm Ethel Merman!" She asks him what he has on his forehead to which he responds, "That's my DX4-45 Voice Enhancer... with SOUND PROPELLER!" (Or something to that effect).
Ethel Merman and the Phantom sing a duet about the use microphones in musical theatre. I thought this part was great... it was just a funny combination.
Don Quiejote (Which I so can't spell) staggered out with a 'heavy' lance and started to sing: "To Sing the Impossible Song" ( To Dream the Impossible Dream , Man of La Mancha ) "To sing the impossible song, to reach the unreachable note..."
There was a Gypsy reference, but I don't know much about that show. The song was "Let me break your ear drums" and the actress sang it in an annoying high pitch.
Then comes Rent To the tune of Seasons of Love : "Seasons of Hype" The costumes were great, I wasn't sure which of the girls was which, I'm assuming Mimi and Maureen? They made fun of the high notes that the soloists reach in the real song, by singing a bit off key. "525,600 Tonys, 525, 600 Pulitzer Prize, 525, 600 house seats - there'd be a riot of the public got wise." a notable line. :)

Then, the elaborate Les Miz parody. The best part of this one, aside from the songs, was when they made fun of the turntable. They'd all enter shuffling around the stage like they were on the turntable, and sometimes it would take them too far, and they'd have to 'run' against it to make it to the microphone so they could sing their songs.
"At the End of the Play" ( End of the Day ) "And they end of the play, the audience can't wait to get home, to read their liberattos to decipher the words and what we said... better read your synopsis, at the end of the play"
"God, it's high, this song's too high" 'Valjean' sings, "Pity me, change the key, bring it down, bring it down..." ( Bring Him Home ) He squeaked on some of the notes. But the guy sounded like if he wanted to, he could sing the real song, which was awesome.
To the tune of I Dreamed A Dream 'Fauntine' lamented her part in the play, and reflected on past roles "I dreamed a show in days gone by, when all the scenery looked so pretty. I didn't sing one song, then die"
Then the actors stood on stage, half-asleep, and it only took some pounding of the keys by the piano player to revive them. One of the actors sang "If I seem to be downhearted, as this show goes on and on, empty songs with empty lyrics, all about the dead and gone"
He gets interrupted by another actor who decides to explain the plot of the show, very quickly. The other guy pretends to be listening intently, but periodically he would look to the audience and be like "What the?" And he did mouth it very clearly, only with three words.
Then, they finished off the Les Miz bit, and the first act, with the song "Do you Hear the People Sing (All the hit songs from Les Miz)" ( Do You hear the people sing )

Act two opened with a parody of the Lion King The first actor was supposed to be Rafki and he was wearing a very elaborate costume hung with soda cans and spoons and other things I'm sure. He had a Micky Mouse stuffed animal on his hat. He started out with the African chant at the beginning of Circle Of Life but it dissolved into gibberish. They sang "The Circle of Mouse" about how Disney was taking over, and the others came out in animal costumes. My favorite was the elephant, with a long hose trunk and sunglasses.
Then one of the 'lionesses' struck an elaborate pose and then got stuck. Someone off stage handed her a neck brace. Then (I'm assuming) Simba came out with a huge circle on his head and to the tune of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" they sang the beautiful ballad, "Can you feel the pain tonight" complaining about the costumes.

Then, in a salute to 'beautiful flops', they presented the final scene of "Anna Karenna - the musical" during which she sang a very cheerful song about killing herself under the train. It was a funny lyric but I can't spell it - some Russian cites. "Something-something and Kiev Express"

Then came a really nasty parody of Sarah Brightman, during which she apologized for all of the crimes she has committed against musical theatre and opera. I dunno, I don't hate her. *shrug*

Then they parodied Carol Channing in Hello Dolly . "Call on Carol" ( Call on Carol ) I loved this bit. She sang "Dolly is a girl's best friend" ( Diamonds are a girl's best friend ). Then they sang "Oh No Carol, No no no Carol, don't you dare do Hello Dolly once again" ( Hello Dolly ) To which she responded, "Don't be annoyed fellas, I'm keeping you employed fellas". Now, on the CD that I had of the orginal version, they respond with "Promise you'll never go away again" But in the version I saw, it was "Promise you'll never do this show again"
I dunno, I thought it was more funny that they changed their tune.

One of the actors came out holding candle sticks, pretending to be Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast singing to the tune of Be Our Guest , "Be Depressed" about how Disney was taking over. "We'll take forty-second street from east to west"

Then came a parody of Miss Sagion "The beat is on in Sagion, is there a beat going on? By our singing you could never tell" They sang about how the lyrics aren't all that deep. (I can't comment, I don't know anything about this show) "Have a nice day, we have regressed to cliche"; "you know Hallmark is the big one, but we could also use Ziggy for lyrics so dumb"; "Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you, that's as deep as we go"
During the real version of Miss Sagion, I guess there is elaborate staging when a helicopter comes in, but in this version, they brought a toy helicopter across the back of the stage. It was fabulous.
Then came "Aspects of Lust" ( Aspects of Love ) and three of the actors were apparently naked, hiding behind a towel, where they sang "I sleep with everyone" ( "Love changes everything" ) Just a little bit risque. And the closing line, "And if you're in the audience, they you'll sleep too".
Then came Liza One-Note. She sang for a bit, and then talked to the audience. She had a funny exchange with the piano player:
her: "We go way back, we're best friends!... how long have we known each other?"
Him: "I started yesterday"
This bit was funny at first, but then it seemed to just drag on and on... well I guess all shows have a slow point.
Then came parodies of Mandy Patinkin and Barbra Streisand.
'Barbra Streisand' sang "There's a song for me" ( Somewhere Over The Rainbow ) It was another good impression

To the tune of "I Enjoy Being a Girl" ( Bye-bye Birdie ), "I enjoy being a cat" was sung by one of the actors in a Cat costume. He started out in the audience and made his way up on stage. He also broke into a parody of Memory : "Remember when the actors played humans"

Finally, to the tune of "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof , "Ambition"
Oh, and instead of being a "Fiddler on the roof" it was "an actor in New York"
After Ambition, they sang a reprise of "Forbidden Broadway" ( "That's Entertainment" ) and took their bows.

Overall, I loved the show, even though there were a few parts that I didn't find funny, and a few references that I didn't catch, but it didn't spoil it at all. All of the actors were great, and they all sounded like they'd have no trouble at all performing the real parts that they parodied. (Which I suppose is the idea)

"It's been fun, but we've got to run - or should we say run away. But we're sure to meet on that zany street - Forbidden Broadway!"