Has anyone seen a truly strange play or musical? What’s the strangest one you’ve heard of? Here, we will look at a few of the strangest plays or musicals out there. Some you may have heard of, and some, maybe not.
Rocky Horror Picture Show
We all have heard of it. We all don’t really understand it. We all know it has a cult following with people dressing up like the characters. But what is it about? The story centers on a young engaged couple whose car breaks down in the rain near a castle where they seek a telephone to call for help. The castle or country home is occupied by strangers in elaborate costumes celebrating an annual convention. They discover the head of the house is Dr. Frank N. Furter, an apparent mad scientist who actually is an alien transvestite who creates a living muscle man, Rocky, in his laboratory. The couple are seduced separately by the mad scientist and eventually released by the servants who take control. The musical was adapted into a film in 1975 and still enjoys success to this day…but I don’t get it.
Urintown: The Musical
Urinetown: The Musical is a satirical, comedy musical that premiered in 2001, with music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis. It satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and municipal politics. The show also parodies musicals such as The Threepenny Opera, The Cradle Will Rock and Les Misérables, and the Broadway musical itself as a form. Does sound strange, right? Well, not until you realize that it all revolves around—you guessed it—going to the bathroom. Due to a twenty year drought and a severe water shortage, all restroom activities are regulated. No more private toilets only public ones. You have to pay to go to the bathroom. There are strict laws that if broken gets you sent to a “penal colony” called Urinetown…..
Octomom: The Musical
Do I really need to write anything about this?…
I will mention one thing, when the show opened, the producers left nine seats open just in case.
Triassic Parq
The novel and film Jurassic Park told from the perspective of the dinosaurs. A clan of genetically engineered female dinosaurs (played by male and female actors) is thrown into chaos when one of the female dinosaurs spontaneously turns male. Originally directed by Marshall Pailet and presented Off-Broadway at the Soho Playhouse in 2012. The original cast featured Alex Wyse (Velociraptor of Innocence), Wade McCollum (Velociraptor of Faith), Lindsay Nicole Chambers (Velociraptor of Science), Shelley Thomas (T-Rex 1), Claire Neumann (T-Rex 2), Brandon Espinoza (Mime-a-saurus), Lee Seymour (Morgan Freeman) and Zak Sandler (Pianosaurus). Originally produced in 2010 at the NY International Fringe Festival under the title “Jurassic Parq: The Broadway Musical” where it won “Best Overall Musical/Production.” After Off-Broadway, it was slightly re-written and presented at the Chance Theater in Orange County where it won the Ovation Award for “Best Production of a Musical (Intimate Theater)” in addition to two other awards.
