Review: Schmigadoon!

Source: Schmigadoon! | Apple TV+

You asked, I deliver. After a very busy August including anything between 3-6 weddings a week at work (!!), I have finally found/made some time for me to watch the big musical series of the year. 

Once again, it is Apple TV+ bringing in the goods, and while Central Park has come back with an amazing 2nd season (yet to be completed), the one everyone is talking about is definitely Schmigadoon! 

How would you feel if you were trapped in a 1940s musical? That's exactly what happens to couple Melissa and Josh when they get lost during a hiking trip. They end up in the town of Schmigadoon and realise they cannot leave town until they find true love... which they thought they already had! 

Schmigadoon is created by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul, working as both a love letter and a big fat cheesy parody to the musicals of the golden age, from the Rodgers & Hammerstein classics, to Cole Porter works, Guys & Dolls and more. And this is in every aspect possible. Heck even the title and the concept itself is a parody of Lerner & Lowe's Bridgadoon! 

There are several musical references in Paul's original songs for MT fans to spot, but even the characters are parodied off characters from these shows too. From a rascal Billy Bigelow knockoff, to a farmers daughter heavily inspired by Oklahoma's Ado Annie, to the school ma'am bringing The King and I's Anna Leonowens to mind. 

With a show heavily inspired by musicals, it only makes sense that the cast is heavily filled with people with proven stage or musical film credits. These include Cecily Strong and Keegan Micheal Key (Jingle Jangle) as Melissa and Josh respectfully; and the Schmigadoon residents are full of talent. The likes of Aaron Tveit: Ariana DeBose (The Prom): Dove Cameron (The Light in the Piazza): Jane Krakowski (She Loves Me): Alan Cumming: to Avenue Q's original Christmas Eve, Ann Harada. Oh yeah, and Martin Short makes a cameo as a leprechaun. That was random; and hilarious. 

And perhaps my favourite of all, Kristen Chenoweth (Hairspray Live) as Mildred Layton, the vicar's wife. Her big number Tribulation and Strife, a tribute to The Music Man's You Got Trouble, was reportedly done in just 1 take! It ended up being possibly my favourite number in the whole series. Not just to Chenoweth's performance complete with high C ending, but the choreography from the whole of the town's folk. So this seems a good time to mention the work done by Tony-winning choreographer Christopher Galetti, who's work include the Broadway production of Newsies. 

Now onto the songs; like I said, they're full of nods to golden oldie musicals, sometimes to the point where you start to think "Ok, so you're ripping off Carousel here, we get it", and so sometimes the meaning of the song gets a bit lost in the parody and the "oh they're breaking out into song again". Sometimes the face we make is the one Melissa and Josh make when they enter town; but they aren't bad as such, just a little cringe and/or very VERY cheesy. They didn't make me want to run to iTunes and download the soundtrack immediately like Central Park did.  

The final reference I need to make is actually in the visuals. You'll see when comparing the greys used in the flashback scenes of Melissa and Josh's fateful camping trip, to the very bright painted fake sets of Schmigadoon, a giant touch to The Wizard of Oz. 

Overall, would I recommend a trip to Schmigadoon? Does depend on who you are and what you're into. If you're looking for something to not take AT ALL seriously with a few friends, chocolate and booze, then Schmigadoon could definitely be for you. And to have a good laugh at with all the references; I think this is definitely made for fans of musical theatre in mind. 

However, if you're looking for something more chilled to binge out to, or if you think Schmigadoon may be a bit too cringe/cheesy, then I would say save that for another day and go to Central Park instead. 

It has definitely been fun, but feels as if you've travelled to psychedelic technicolour Oz via a singing tornado or two.