Review: ‘Millennials are Killing Musicals’ slays at Colony Theatre
- Anita W. Harris
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
If the title alone of “Millennials are Killing Musicals” intrigues you, know that the show fully delivers on its suggestion of theatrical fun. With a talented, high-energy cast and a story that reflects our digital times using immersive projections, this world-premiere musical by Nico Juber at The Colony Theatre is #fabulous.
Juber first wrote the musical as a 90-minute story, extending it to more than two hours for this version, which will move to New York after this run. Though parts could be edited, such as the scatological song "Never Alone" that isn't really necessary for plot or character, it's creativity and playfulness are refreshing (reminiscent of "44: The Musical" in that regard), enhanced by excellent staging.
Colorful scenic design and video projection by Stephen Gifford and Taylor Edelle Stuart, respectively, with dynamic lighting by Gavan Wyrick, costumes by Jessica Champagne Hansen and sound by Cricket Myers, create a vibrant, somewhat goofy alternate-universe tone from the start.
A live band directed by Anthony Lucca on keyboards, with Brandon Bae on guitar, Gage Getz on bass and Ryan McDiarmid on drums, delivers rocking music to accompany the lyrics, some of which are more successful (such as about love as trigonometry) than others (such as about pooping and adulting, though droll).
And as directed by Kristin Hanggi and choreographed by Michelle Elkin, the invested ensemble gives its all to both the story and songs, engaging the audience through warm eye contact and sheer enthusiasm.
Set in the generic town of Springfield in 2019 and also “the internet,” the musical begins in a digital space where three glitzy app filters — Luna (a versatile Lana McKissack), Pacifica (Mitchell Gerrard Johnson) and Atlas (John Krause) — serve nefarious taskmaster Algo (Michael Thomas Grant) to get as many people as possible hooked on the social media app “Instacam” to maximize algorithm-driven profits, mostly through boosting posts and ordering products from “Scamazon.”
Yes, it may be far-fetched to imagine app filters as deified beings who intentionally blur our realities, but it's such a creative way to make a point about how the insidious capitalist process of creating problems, selling solutions and repeating ad infinitum — as sung in “Pay the Algo”— is even easier and more addictive through social media.
But in the short time Algo has profited from such apps, along come “snowflake” millennials who are not only #killing everything from sex to doorbells but also either indifferent to or embracing digital reality. Among the indifferent are young mom Brenda (Emma Hunton with stellar vocals), who journals on actual paper, and her potential boyfriend, math teacher Dylan (Grant, deftly switching between a raging algorithm and sweet geek).
Among the embracers are Brenda’s influencer sister Kat (Diana Huey, bringing insane energy) — whose livelihood depends on nearly a million Instacam followers — and a put-together woman the sisters mostly know as “Jake’s mom” (Aynsley Bubbico, well cast with dry humor), who posts her perfectionism at every turn and literally salutes her lifestyle hero in “Just Like Gwyneth Did.”
Interactions among the three women drive the rest of the play as the three app filters get Brenda hooked on posting and getting likes while Kat has an improbable baby and Jake’s mom drinks a lot of red wine. The unfolding story is cute and funny in its twists and turns — including how Brenda meets suave and successful tech marketer Nate (Krause) on a business trip to Hawaii — but also relatable in how Brenda feels taken care of on planes, how Kat is overwhelmed as a new mom and how Jake’s mom’s marriage may not be perfect after all.
The women’s collective Christmas-time low in “Santa Don’t Go” is set right by the sisters’ visiting mom Nana Marie (Broadway maven Jennifer Leigh Warren) bringing down the house with a soulful “Somehow You Both Survived.” This reminder leads to Brenda reclaiming a more authentic “Who I Am” with new insight, and even the three app filters join in to create “This Is The Life We Wanted” for the newly self-empowered women.
Even though that magical new life is still media based, it at least involves the women in person rather than filtered through socials. Okay, maybe that’s not entirely convincing, but you’ll cheer them nonetheless as you consider your own authenticity in our increasingly digital landscape. You may even feel compelled to delete all your phone apps, but only after dancing with the cast at the end of this rollicking show.
“Millennials Are Killing Musicals” continues through May 17 at The Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third St., Burbank, with shows Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. For tickets and other information, call the box office at 818-558-7000 or visit ColonyTheatre.org. Run time is 2 hours and 30 minutes, including intermission.
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