Review - Stop That Show

Stop That Show

The Annoyance Theatre

Stop That Show, a supposed musical satire, now being presented at The Annoyance Theatre, is for the most part painful to watch. Written by the cast, this work takes an interesting premise and turns it into an evening of sad attempts of humor. Unless the context is right, just saying the word “fuck” is not funny. Pedophilia is not funny. Rhyming “mucus” with “puke us” makes one gag rather than giggle. Screaming out bad material does nothing to make the material less bad. Including scenes which are seemingly inserted for the simple reason that they are thought of as funny (rather than furthering the plot), is wasteful rather than wistful. Finally, just acting stupid is not funny - it’s just stupid.

The small town of Saline (named for the town’s main industry, a saline plant at the outskirts of the town), population 354, is beset with a problem - their teenagers have become psychotically passionate with theatre. The teens put on show after show, neglecting everything else in their life, including Saline’s highly-successful basketball team. The adults of Saline form the “Committee to Stop Theatre”, which decides that the only way to counter their drama-ensconced youth is to put on a show themselves, thus persuading their youth from putting on more shows of their own. The elders’ show is produced through the help of a traveling preacher/magician (they call him a “preagician”. In a web chat room I would label this moniker GOL - groaning out loud). The committee’s scheme actually backfires, jettisoning the adults themselves to also be transfixed with theatre. (In an actually clever line, the town’s athletic coach proclaims “I don’t need basketball any more - I got Tennessee Williams!”). The show ends with the closing number “Theatre Ruined Our Town”, replete with the lyric “fuck theatre”.

Save for the town’s mayor, Dan Jessup, the acting falls flat. The music (composed by Julie Nichols), mostly bland, is partially saved by the rousing “This Town’s Got Talent”.

There admittedly were people laughing throughout the performance, but then there’s millions of Americans that think professional wrestling is real. This show should be a lesson for the Annoyance Theatre to be wary of shows that are written by the cast. Just as a mother thinks her high-school daughter’s presentation of “West Side Story” is surely better than the Broadway original, actors can fill a show with inside jokes, having no objective party to judge their work. (where is Simon Cowell when you need him?). Stop That Show would be more aptly named Stop THIS Show.

Rating: Gag-Me-With-Saline (zero stars)

Reviewed by Scotty Zacher

[email protected]



	Sweet Smell of Success *Stop That Show* The Annoyance Theatre http://theannoyance.com Stop That Show, a supposed musical satire, now being presented at The Annoyance Theatre, is for the most part painful to watch. Written by the cast, this work takes an interesting premise and turns it into an evening of sad attempts of humor. Unless the context is right, just saying the word “fuck” is not funny. Pedophilia is not funny. Rhyming “mucus” with “puke us” makes one gag rather than giggle. Screaming out bad material does nothing to make the material less bad. Including scenes which are seemingly inserted for the simple reason that they are thought of as funny (rather than furthering the plot), is wasteful rather than wistful. Finally, just acting stupid is not funny - it’s just stupid. The small town of Saline (named for the town’s main industry, a saline plant at the outskirts of the town), population 354, is beset with a problem - their teenagers have become psychotically passionate with theatre. The teens put on show after show, neglecting everything else in their life, including Saline’s highly-successful basketball team. The adults of Saline form the “Committee to Stop Theatre”, which decides that the only way to counter their drama-ensconced youth is to put on a show themselves, thus persuading their youth from putting on more shows of their own. The elders’ show is produced through the help of a traveling preacher/magician (they call him a “preagician”. In a web chat room I would label this moniker GOL - groaning out loud). The committee’s scheme actually backfires, jettisoning the adults themselves to also be transfixed with theatre. (In an actually clever line, the town’s athletic coach proclaims “I don’t need basketball any more - I got Tennessee Williams!”). The show ends with the closing number “Theatre Ruined Our Town”, replete with the lyric “fuck theatre”. Save for the town’s mayor, Dan Jessup, the acting falls flat. The music (composed by Julie Nichols), mostly bland, is partially saved by the rousing “This Town’s Got Talent”. There admittedly were people laughing throughout the performance, but then there’s millions of Americans that think professional wrestling is real. This show should be a lesson for the Annoyance Theatre to be wary of shows that are written by the cast. Just as a mother thinks her high-school daughter’s presentation of “West Side Story” is surely better than the Broadway original, actors can fill a show with inside jokes, having no objective party to judge their work. (where is Simon Cowell when you need him?). Stop That Show would be more aptly named Stop THIS Show. Rating: Gag-Me-With-Saline (zero stars) Reviewed by Scotty Zacher [email protected] Hosted by www.Geocities.ws