Broadway’s Next H!T Musical took the stage at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, on the campus of Ocean County College in Toms River, NJ.
Starring actors Stefan Schick, Rob Schiffmann, Annie Schiffmann, and Megan Reilly, emcee Marc Engberg, and pianist Gary Adler, the troupe satirized Broadway’s Tonys with their own zany awards show — The Phony Awards — featuring four original songs created on the spot based on song title suggestions provided by the audience.
After being entertained by all four songs, the audience selected one as the winner, which, in the second act, was featured in an improvised Broadway musical complete with a madcap cast of characters, spontaneous vocal harmonies, and ridiculous costumes.
On this particularly chilly night in February, it’s no wonder one of the nominated songs included “It’s Too For Cold Singing” — along with “Broken Heart” and “I’m A Little Rat Face” — in addition to the award-winning “Sligo Lady is Here,” suggested by a NJ grandmother in the audience with family ties to County Sligo in Ireland.
Her song inspired a “spy musical,” “A Stage, A Son, A Spy, and a Gun,” which featured such quirky characters as a whimsical captain, a pair of comic criminals, and Lady Sligo, the singing spy who saved the day.
Throughout the course of the evening, the Broadway’s Next H!T Musical cast improvised all of the dialogue, lyrics, melodies, and musical accompaniments performed — along with hilarious choreography — engaging the enthusiastic crowd at the Grunin Center.
Theatergoers in attendance at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center were most impressed by the imagination and energy of the performers and their “go-with-it” attitude — notably when things didn’t make any sense whatsoever — all adding to the fun and hilarity of the evening, leaving audiences to wonder about Broadway’s NEXT H!T Musical!
For more information on Broadway’s Next H!T Musical, check out broadwaysnexthitmusical.com, and for future events at The Jay and Linda Grunin Center — including Home Free on Feb. 20 and Aaron Neville on Mar. 18 — please to to grunincenter.org.
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