By Doug Iden
Parrotheads Rejoice!
Parrothead or not, you should consider Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville currently cavorting at the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater. Featuring music and lyrics by popular and renowned singer/musician Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville explodes onto the stage with his unique philosophy of “island escapism” in a show filled with his most popular songs.
Plot and Characters
This Jukebox Musical, which opened on Broadway in 2018, has a tad more substance, theatricality and themes than many in the genre. As you would expect, the show opens in a somewhat dilapidated “resort” called Margaritaville on an unnamed Caribbean island. The resort is run by Marley (Elizabeth Leigh Taylor) with staff including Tully Mars (Zachary Petrie as a Jimmy Buffett-ish style singer), bartender Brick (Christopher Wells), busboy Jamal (Gabriel Kanai Nakata) and a one-eyed hanger-on J.D. (Jamie Steele) who has an eye for the ladies.
Meanwhile, in Cincinnati, Tammy (Rebecca Wall) and her friend Rachel (a serious scientist played by Jordan Darnell) are planning a final fling in the sun-drenched Caribbean before Tammy’s impending marriage to Chad (Evan Rogers). (*How many musicals do you know that have Cincinnati as a venue? See below.) Chad bemoans Tammy’s weight and swears her to a vegan diet and warns her not to flirt. Rachel collects specimens from the nearby volcano as part of her study on the alternate energy properties of the volcanic soil. When Tammy meets Brick and Rachel engages Tully as a guide up the mountain, everything changes. And then the volcano erupts.
Musical Numbers
There are 21 songs with several reprises featuring most of Buffett’s best-known tunes. His music is a unique blend of musical styles including country, folk, rock, ballads, and calypso. Buffet changed the lyrics for some of the songs to better incorporate them into the story and added a new love song “Three Chords” sung by Darnell and Petrie when Tully shows Rachel how to play a guitar. Many of the songs are ensemble pieces featuring one or more of the principal characters including the opening number “License to Chill” and “License to Reggae” (anthems to the island lifestyle), “Five O’clock Somewhere” (an excuse for drinking), “Volcano” and the first act closer “Margaritaville”.
Two very clever numbers include a riff on A Chorus Line with the ensemble led by Brick (Wells). The other is a spoof on zombie movies with Brick (Wells) hallucinating about a chorus of dead insurance salesmen while singing and dancing to “We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About”. Another highlight is the “Cheeseburgers in Paradise.”
J. D. (Steele), the primary comic character, justifies his priority with “Why Don’t We Get Drunk” and joins the ensemble with “Grapefruit, Juicy Fruit.” Rachel (Darnell) describes her scientific passion with “It’s My Job” and joins Tully (Petrie) in love songs including “Son of a Son of a Sailor” and “King of Somewhere hot/Coast of Marseilles.” The singing overall is good with Darnell, Wells and Petrie leading the way.
Themes
Primarily, this is a show for pure entertainment but there are a few themes including adopting a vegan diet versus the standard American fare. Also, job and academic interests conflicting with “real life”, female body shaming and the laissez-faire island life contrasting with serious life obligations.
Production
“Colorful” is the best word to describe the various production elements including set, lighting, props, costumes, and storyline. In keeping with the Buffett motif, the set (Brett Bowling) reflects the somewhat bedraggled Margaritaville including an almost garish yellow, brown and green bar, beach umbrellas, gazebo and upstairs rooms with grass-thatched roofs. Lighting by Denny Reed includes background stars, resort bulbs and volcanic pyrotechnics. Costumes by June Hill and Jesselee Whitson highlight the casual island style with bright and colorful shirts and dresses and lots of shorts. Later, the ensemble (back in Cincinnati) wears more formal clothes at a wedding. The mostly hidden onstage band is led by Greg Dastillung with the right touch of calypso-ish music–at the right volume.
There is a lot of dancing with a very good group of dancers. The Choreographer is Cassidy Steele. Most of the dancing is very athletic and energetic, reminiscent of the island style (including a limbo) but there is also some tap dancing and clever spoofy dances. Director Tim Perrino expertly moves the show along briskly.
Overall
This is a fun, exciting show with high energy performances by the cast led by Wells, Steele, Nakata, Taylor, Darnell and Wall. On Opening Night, the large audience enthusiastically applauded the show. Many members were bedecked in their Buffett finery. As with many Jukebox Musicals, there was a mixture of theater people and concertgoers, each with a different view of audience participation.
The storyline is cute and clever but also somewhat silly and sophomoric. The humor is a combination of high school raunchy and “dad joke” puns. There is also an undue emphasis on drinking, recreation drugs, and casual sex. If you are a Parrothead, you will love the show. If you are not, you should still enjoy the escape.
Tickets to Escape to Margaritaville
So, grab your umbrella drink, flip flops and suntan oil and cruise on down to the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater. Escape to Margaritaville runs through September 15. Order By Phone: 513-241-6550 or CLICK HERE.
*Cincinnati in the Musical?
A little help from ChatGPT and memory, here are 4. Do you know any others?
- “Bright Star” – This musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell is set in the American South, but it includes a subplot where one of the characters travels to Cincinnati. The city is a significant plot point as a place where one character sends her baby to be adopted.
- “The Music Man” – While not set in Cincinnati, there is a famous line in the song “Rock Island” where one of the traveling salesmen mentions Cincinnati as part of their sales territory.
- “Wonderful Town” – This musical, with music by Leonard Bernstein, is set in New York City, but it features two sisters from Ohio, Ruth, and Eileen, who move to the big city to pursue their dreams. While Cincinnati isn’t the main focus, Ohio plays a significant role in their backstory. (Wonderful Town will be produced at CCM this year!)
- “Fiona, the Musical” – Premiering at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati last year, “a hilarious and heartfelt musical journey, with resplendent music and lyrics by David Kisor and a sharp book by Zina Camblin,” the story of Fiona the Hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo is fun for the whole family.
