The fun silliness that abounds in “Disaster the Musical” begins in the pre-show announcements: turn off your cell phones, no flash photography and, by the way, the cushion on your seat can be used as a floatation device if necessary.
“Disaster the Musical,” playing now through June 16 at the Buck Creek Playhouse, 11150 Southeastern Ave. on the east side of Indianapolis, weaves together a delightfully gaudy tapestry of top 40 hits of the 1970s into this musical homage to the disaster movies of that decade.
To a backdrop of disco, rhythm and blues and pop, the show pays tribute to the disaster movie genre with nods to “Earthquake,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “The Towering Inferno,” “Willard,” “Jaws,” “Airport” and “Piranha.” Audiences will enjoy catching all the references and similarities between the musical and the movies.
The intrigue begins at the grand opening of the Barracuda Casino built on the ocean, but much too close to a fault line in the earth. Continued construction on the facility, in addition to the constant thump-thump-thump of the action on the dance floor, seems to be increasing seismic activity.
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Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” opens the show as three different characters sing a verse for three different reasons: ladies’ man Scott (played by Jamison Hemmert) is looking to pick up chicks; casino owner Tony Delvecchio (Corey Yeaman) insists on hot food for the buffet; and disaster expert Professor Ted Scheider (Joe Wagner) is on alert for underground temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius, indicating an imminent geological disaster (i.e. an earthquake).
The show introduces a variety of characters all on the floating casino for a variety of reasons.
Shirley and Maury Summers (Laura Duvall-Whitson and Michael Davis) are perfectly cast as a long-married retired couple. The two perform a heartwarming duet to “You’re Still the One,” as made famous in 1976 by the rock group Orleans.
Greenfield resident Scott Fleshood nearly steals the show as Chad, a waiter at the casino. He runs into a former girlfriend and then, devastated by her rebuff, retreats to the restroom to sing — with all the stops out — Harry Nilsson’s “Without You,” ending up in a fetal position on the floor.
Yeaman, another Greenfield resident frequently seen on stage at the Ricks Centre, shows his flair for comedy in his role as the slimy Delvecchio with his dry delivery and through comedic bits such as repeatedly stepping neatly out of the way of a blind woman looking for help on the capsized ship.
Sister Mary Downey (Emily Gaddy) hilariously shares the word of the lord in flat, clipped phrases with religious tracts and numerous cut-short attempts to sing Sister Janet Mead’s “The Lord’s Prayer.” We soon realize that she’s not outside the casino by accident — she has a gambling problem.
Jackie Noelle (Jessica Hawkins) is a lounge singer on board with her 11-year-old twins Lisa and Ben (both played by Ava Lusby). Hawkins is one of the better vocalists in the show. She demonstrates this when her son Ben asks her how to spell Saturday for his homework assignment. You can see the comedy bit coming from a mile away as she launches into the Bay City Rollers’ “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!”
Lusby deserves an award all her own for her dual role as twins Lisa and Ben. The twins are conveniently dressed alike, but with short blonde hair quickly and easily swapped out for long blonde braids and a baseball cap. Near the end of the show, Hawkins and Lusby sing Linda Rondstadt’s “When Will I Be Loved” with Lusby appearing as Lisa on one side of Hawkins, and then — singing in a lower range — on the other side as Ben.
There are so many cheesily hilarious moments in this show where authors Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick creatively plug 1970s songs or a classic disaster movie conveyance into the script.
My particular favorite was when Professor Scheider must walk across a beam in the overturned ship to rescue Jackie Noelle and her children. The music begins quietly, the Professor takes some strange dipping steps and you realize Rudetsky and Plotnik have managed to squeeze “Nadia’s Theme” into the mix.
The playbill cleverly omits the listing of the 40 or so songs included throughout the show, creating surprise and delight among the audience members, most of whom recognized the iconic songs of the era.
Directed by New Palestine native Scott Robinson, “Disaster the Musical” has a PG-13 rating, but the campy fun outweighs any of the mild language, violence and rude humor.
Visit buckcreekplayers.com for show times and ticket information.
