Any day now the announcement that “Jaws the Musical” is heading to Broadway will appear in my inbox, ringing the death knell for the commercially desperate American theater. But until that apocalyptic moment, let’s savor the revue-style ingenuity of “Silence! The Musical,” a singing sendup of that pulpy yet polished 1991 blockbuster “The Silence of the Lambs,” winner of a disproportionate number of Academy Awards for a movie in which body parts are there for the filleting. See more……..
The impending “Book of Mormon” notwithstanding, it’s unlikely that Angelenos will see anything more scabrous or ham’s-holiday funny than “Silence! The Musical” at the Hayworth Theatre. This “unauthorized parody” of the Oscar-winning thriller is receiving a take-no-prisoners L.A. premiere and in the process decimates its source and the audience. A smash at the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival and a still-running Off-Broadway hit now in its 15th month, “Silence!” breaks no new ground, except perhaps for having been first conceived as an Internet parody. Indeed, composer-lyricists Jon and Al Kaplan came to major prominence with their Web spoofs of various Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicles. Read more…….
I was especially impressed with the staging. A few moveable screens and some desks are the only sets, but you hardly realize that because they are used skillfully and their movements are so perfectly choreographed that they almost become characters. The company – each of whom plays a number of roles (and will let the audience know when they are in a new role!) – is quite impressive. They have a lot of great singers and dancers among them (including Jeff Hiller, LaToya London, Karl Warden, Jesse Merlin, and Kathy Deitch) and all are “in” on the joke. I guess it is hard to be too serious when you are performing songs like “Put the Fucking Lotion in the Basket,” “Are You About a Size 14?” and “If I Could Smell her Cunt” (complete with a classical ballet accompaniment.)
Silence! The Musical is transgressive, hilarious, and entertaining. I had more fun with this show than with almost any Broadway-bound show. See more…..
In fact, I was surprised by how funny it was even more than I was regarding the catchiness of the songs – I honestly didn’t think that the story of Buffalo Bill, or Lecter’s eventual bloody escape, could lend itself to so many earned laughs. See more….
So wrong on so many levels…and so freakin’ funny! That’s Silence! The Musical. This unauthorized parody of “The Silence of the Lambs,” which starred Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, latches onto every idiosyncrasy and memorable moment in the film and sends it up in the bluest way possible. It’s no wonder it became an instant cult hit. See more…….
When Thomas Harris wrote his classic thriller The Silence of The Lambs, I don’t imagine he ever pictured a troupe of tap-dancing lambs. As Jonathan Demme and Anthony Hopkins collected their Oscars for the film version, it’s doubtful they thought about the story’s main characters doing a tango, complete with the glass partition between them held up as they dance. And yet here we are, decades later, presented with Silence! The Musical. And it’s a good thing, too, because it’s bloody hilarious. See more………
Silence! The Musical is another win for LA’s historic Hayworth Theatre. The unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, this award-winning show combines all of your favorite things about the movie with all of your favorite things about South Park…….
I found myself switching between pretend shock at the outrageously boundary-pushing dialogue and lyrics, and hysterical laughter-inducing tears of glee. Read more……
Hey L.A. readers, I have got a hilarious treat for you. There is a brand new uproarious, possibly offensive and ridiculously hysterical new musical in town. No, I’m not talking about The Book of Mormon (but that is a great one). I’m actually talking about the new L.A. run of the off-Broadway smash Silence! The Musical which, yes, is based on the Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs. It opens tonight at the Hayworth Theatre. See more…..
You don’t need to memorize the plot of The Silence of the Lambs to enjoy Silence! The Musical — one of the production’s many strengths. Anyone with a raunchy sense of humor would laugh out loud at the musical’s shamelessly dirty songs. An entire number is dedicated to a seedy insult that one of Lecter’s fellow inmates throws at Starling. During the crude song, an en pointe ballet dancer gracefully adds a physical rendition of the hilarious but vulgar lyrics. There was hardly a move the dancer delivered that did not result in laughter from the crowd. See more….
“We couldn’t remember the last time we laughed so much. SILENCE! The Musical is a parody like no other. SILENCE! The Musical is hilarious, brash, irreverent, flamboyant, naughty and one of our FEATURED events. GO!” – Performing Arts LIVE
Rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling matches wits with the brilliant but insane cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter in order to catch the serial killer known as Buffalo Bill.Clarice faces her own demons while racing the clock to unlock Lecters clues before another innocent girl is killed and skinned by Buffalo Bill. This laugh-out-loud naughty satire features a singing chorus of floppy eared lambs narrating the action as Buffalo Bill gleefully dances a hoedown while kidnapping hapless Catherine Martin. Even Dr. Lecter, scary as ever, sings about the life he’d like to lead someday outside the prison walls. See more ………
Lovers of cult movies – and cult theater – can rejoice. Silence! The Musical has made the journey from New York to Los Angeles with all the laughs intact. Bolstered by Jon and Al Kaplan’s infinitely clever music and lyrics and a sharp-witted book by Hunter Bell, Silence transfers Jonathan Demme’s 1991 horror masterpiece The Silence of the Lambs to the stage in a riotous adaptation punctuated by dead-on performances, gleefully raunchy humor, and elaborate song-and-dance numbers. See more……
