The Missouri State University Theatre and Dance Department's next production, "Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)" by Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart, is a musical about musicals! It's actually a wild satire of musical theatre in which one story becomes five musicals, each written in the distinctive style of a different master of the form, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim. The basic plot: June is an ingenue who can't pay the rent and is threatened by her evil landlord. Will the handsome leading man come to the rescue? The variations are: a Rodgers & Hammerstein version, set in Kansas in August, complete with a dream ballet; a Sondheim version, featuring the landlord as a tortured artistic genius who slashes the throats of his tenants in revenge for not appreciating his work; a Jerry Herman splashy star-vehicle version; an Andrew Lloyd Webber version, a rock musical with themes borrowed from Puccini; and a Kander & Ebb version, set in a speakeasy in Chicago. This comic valentine to musical theatre was the longest running show in the York Theatre Company's 35-year history before moving to Off-Broadway. It will be performed in the Craig Hall Balcony Theatre TONIGHT through Thursday Feb. 14-17 and next Monday through Thursday Feb. 21-24 all at 7:30pm. For tickets call 836-7678 or visit www.missouristatetix.com.
