An amazingly good time happened at Playhouse 46 at St. Luke’s where “Stranger Sings” was staged.
To those who know the Netflix TV series “Stranger Things,” this musical parody had the holiday lights and an eerie darkness set up to greet you as you entered the building. The intimate theater had seats on the floor, including beanbags, and in the middle of the floor was a wooden table with characters sitting on it. And like the TV series, musical hits from the ’70s and ’80s were blasting.
The environment was so fun and inviting, and the music was rocking with songs like “Hit Me With Your Best Shot!” and “Sunglasses at Night.” You found yourself bopping in your seat, tapping your feet, and getting ready to have a good time.
All the characters that we knew and loved from the television show were very much present and accounted for, but not in the way they were in the TV show. These characters were over-the-top hilarious. The lady of the hour, Barb, who was a victim of the monster—or was she?—was stunningly played by SLee. This is a girl with a big heart, voice, and moves. She blew the audience away, because her character in this musical parody has a lot to say, anger to share, and a new attitude to proclaim.
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Caroline Huerta was absolutely marvelous as Joyce and was also a very capable voice for Will, who is actually a hand puppet in this production. Harley Seger was delightful as both Nancy and Eleven. She had the audience in tears laughing. Kyle Mangold was ridiculously amusing in his dual roles of Steve and Jonathan. Nickolaus Colon was off-the-charts funny as Hopper.
And of course, we had the rest of the members of the group of nerds—Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, played by Nicolas Hermick, Jeremiah Garcia, and Jamir Brown, respectively. These three young men played these characters with such joy, energy, silliness, and delight, everyone had smiles on their faces.
This musical parody had a completely off-the-hinge book, music, and lyrics by Jonathan Hogue. Because it was a parody, nothing went as you would have expected—and it was great. The songs had the audience bent over laughing. In fact, the laughs came so frequently in this musical that you were still laughing at one joke when the next one happened. The show also had dazzling choreography by Ashley Marinelli. The direction by Nick Flatto was perfection.
What made this musical even funnier was watching how much fun the cast was having carrying out this crazy, looney storyline. When the show was over, the audience was invited to be part of a dance party on the main floor and believe me, they joined in. It was an incredible, engaging experience. It is unfortunate that it had to end. I truly hope it will come back.