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About POSEIDON!
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Mike Miller's Poseidon Dolls
Personality Test
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Reviews and Features
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there's got to be a morning after...
CHICAGO PLAYERS HEAD FOR N.Y. 'FRINGE'
BY HEDY WEISS, Chicago Sun-Times
"Everybody going to the Fringe now has 'Urinetown' dreams,"
admitted Jim Glaub, producer of "POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical,"
the stage spoof of the 1972 Irwin Allen shipboard disaster movie that
debuted last November at the Theatre Building and proceeded to run for
eight months. "But mostly it's just a rare opportunity for the actors
and technicians to be seen in New York."
"POSEIDEON," a Hell in a Handbag production created by David
Cerda and directed by David Zak, is not your usual easy-to-transport,
small-cast production, either. More than 30 actors and support people
will head to the Big Apple to reinvent the show for just four performances
Aug. 20-24.
5 SHOWS TO SEE NOW
New City
#1 POSEIDON! AN UPSIDE-DOWN MUSICAL
GREGG SHAPIRO, Windy City Radio
"...the best and funniest musical comedy since The Producers!"
TIP OF THE WEEK - POSEIDON! AN UPSIDE DOWN MUSICAL
BY WEB BEHRENS, New City
All aboard for the USS Hell in a Handbag for its virgin voyage: a riotous
romp written by David Cerda, lovingly tweaks the grandmammy of all-star
disaster films while examining its role in America's pop culture consciousness.
Even if you've never seen "The Poseidon Adventure" movie, there's
plenty to enjoy, including the absurd passion of the devoted "Poseidonites"
who gather to watch the film on New Years Eve (the show within a show
concept that structures this mega-musical). On board the ship, it's one
brilliant cheap thrill after another; meanwhile, things sometimes hit
an emotional note at the party. The Cerda-Lamberty songwriting team (composers
of many a Sweetback musical) continues to mature, and Cerda knows just
how to highlight his stars, like Tracy Repep, Ed Jones, and Merrie Greenfield,
who finds the right touch for a tricky monologue near the end. Notable
newcomers to this band of performers include Joshua Campbell (as the hilarious
little kid), Michael Miller (a deadpan Manny, and the show's brilliant
graphic designer) and seasoned director David Zak, taking a break from
the Bailiwick to captain this crazy campfest.
BY RICK REED, Windy City Times
Part send-up and part homage, Hell in a Handbag Productions has scored
a real comedy coup with Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical. The creative
force behind the show, David Cerda (responsible for previous parodies
that include sCarrie! The Musical, The Birds, and Touched by Jayne Mansfield)
uses the cultish devotion that has flourished around Irwin Allen's 1972
disaster film as springboard for framing his parody. The story sets sail
on a festive evening, when a group of friends gather together to watch
the film on video. This framing device works well for the most part...
because it allows the audience to become part of the group in the livingroom,
watching along with the cast, and taking sides with those for whom the
movie has become a kind of obsession, and those who just don't get it.
The hilarity of this conceit reaches a high point when one of the characters
decides to fast forward through a scene and the stage action takes on
manic movement reminiscent of the Keystone Kops.
The part of the play that really soars, though, is its recreation of
the film. Although it's screamingly funny and engrossing, it also displays
a real love and reverence for the original. Walking this fine line is
an accomplishment in itself.
Director David Zak stages the action swiftly and surely, pushing a talented
ensemble to comic highs and musical lows (the songs are great campy fun
Ÿ especially the "Stella Stevens" number, "Just Panties,"
and the "Shelley Winters" aching, "In the Water, I'm a
Very Skinny Lady"). The special effects are suitably cheesy, funny,
and, oddly, very effective. You won't soon forget the staging of the scene
where the tidal wave hits and the doomed ocean liner is flipped upside
down. There's a lot of inspired stuff here, a real tribute to what can
be done with a maximum of imagination and a minimum of budget. Standouts
among the cast included Tracy Repep, as the former whore turned cop's
wife, Linda Rogo, Joe Waterman in the manic, and sexually insecure Red
Buttons role of haberdasher James Martin, and Steve Kimbrough, paying
inspired tribute to the underwater heroine played by Shelley Winters,
Belle Rosen. Steven Johnson and Geoff Stock's set design is a miracle
of efficiency, and Cerda's sound design (and music, co-composed with Scott
Lamberty) are right on target. Cerda's lyrics, like the rest of the play,
wonderfully tread that fine line between ridicule and affection.
If you've been a fan of the film, which celebrates its thirtieth birthday
this year, or even if you haven't, Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical is
luxury-liner sized fun. Don't miss it.
TOPSY TURVY
BY LAWRENCE BOMMER, Chicago Free Press
Let's cut to the chase: How does Hell in a Handbag (formerly Sweetback)
Productions turn the ocean liner upside down, as required by any spoof
of the awful(ly) popular 1972 flick "The Poseidon Adventure"?
Well, you scream a lot as you frantically reverse props so all the old
ups are now down and portholes fill with fish.
It's a typically ingenious maneuver in this tempestuous pop-culture
parody by David Cerda (perpetrator of "Joan Crawford Goes To Hell,"
"sCarrie! The Musical!," "Touched by Jayne Mansfield"
and "Rudolph, The Red-Hosed Reindeer"). In the irreverent spirit
of "Airplane," this literally escapist musical lovingly mocks
the "love boat" stereotypes assembled at the bottom of an upside-down
cruise ship, delighting more in their deaths than their deliverance (which
curiously is never shown). The towering inferno was never such fun.
Camp is Cerda's natural food and, pursuing that elusive quarry, director
David Zak leads a 26-member troupe in this attack on a queen. Inspired
by the "solid gold" choreography by Kristen Folzenlogen, the
songs sell these stock characters for more than they're worth. Even when
utterly irrelevant, as in the closet anthem "Bachelor Haberdasher"
(sung as Joe Waterman apes the Red Buttons character), they're a disturbing
delight. Tracy Repep, a heat-seeking songstress, lets loose in "Just
Panties," a tribute to Stella Stevens' party girl. Peppy production
numbers like "Mr. Rogo (The Only Way Is Up)" give a new meaning
to upbeat, while Shelley Winters' signature song, "In the Water,
I'm a Very Skinny Lady," is adipostically belted by a highly padded
Steve Kimbrough right before "she" plunges into a school of
very agitated fish.
Other unforgettable (yes, the right word) caricatures include Jennifer
Connelly as Gene Hackman's blowhard preacher/cheerleader, R. Kelly as
bumptious Ernest Borgnine, Michael Miller's dead-ringer of Jack Albertson,
and Ed Jones as an airhead hippy with a vacuous voice. Add to these a
gay subplot including a steward and a sailor who, after finding hidden
spots in which to trick, know the quickest way up....
BY STEVEN AUGUST PAPA, via email
I have not laughed this hard, and smiled so wide, in quite some time...
Last night I attended the opening weekend presentation of "POSEIDON,
an UPSIDEDOWN MUSICAL" which was based, you guessed it, on film classic
"The Poseidon Adventure." You might remember the story... On
New Year's Eve in the early 70s, Irwin Allen re-invented the disaster
movie and started a virtual industry of "disaster flicks" with
"The Poseidon Adventure." The film won an Academy Award for
special effects, was a box-office triumph and brought Shelly Winters back
to popular culture with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Thirty years have passed since the film's debut and its transition from
Hollywood blockbuster to cult favorite a la "Rocky Horror Picture
Show" and the "Sound of Music." In fact, there are clubs
and conventions devoted to "The Poseidon Adventure" and this,
dear readers, is where this story begins...
Several fans and devotees of this (their favorite) movie wrote, directed
and star in this musical version called: "POSEIDON, an UPSIDEDOWN
MUSICAL" and it is sensational.
Although I'll have to admit to not seeing the movie for at least fifteen
years, everything came back to me from the adventure itself, to the plot
points and all the great characters. The musical is populated by actors
and actresses that clearly love what they're doing and it shows during
every moment of the play. Whoever your favorite character was in the movie
they're represented here with wit, humor and love. This is no snotty send-up
that ridicules its subject. This is an homage to all of the great Hollywood
popcorn movies that we love to watch over and over again even when we
know what's coming. Whether you've seen the movie before (One time? One
hundred times?) or not at all, you'll enjoy the lightheartedness and joy
that comes from the staging, writing, singing and performing.
Granted that the disaster freaks among you would have wanted a full-size
water tank built and a real ship to capsize on the stage but the clever
use of "water" is a real treat. And I know that everyone has
their favorite characters so believe me when I say that you won't be disappointed
because each and every single one is great. Of course, and no surprise
to any of you, MY FAVORITE, in the movie and in this musical, is Stella
Steven's hooker (with a heart of gold and pumps of silver) Linda. The
actress, Tracy Repep, creates a virtual Broadway-style showstopper with
"Just Panties" that made my evening with its fabulous sex symbol
sauciness that had the gay and straight men in the audience yelling and
screaming for more.
They're all here, though... All of your favorites and mine. I don't want
to give anything more away because I hope you'll gather up some friends
and head on down to this production of "POSEIDON, an UPSIDEDOWN MUSICAL."
BY VICTOR SALVO, via email
I must add my exclamation point to Steve's robust review. To wit:
Last night (Sunday) I had the incredible pleasure of being in the opening
night audience for the newly written musical version of "The Poseidon
Adventure" a.k.a.: "Poseidon: An Upside Down Musical!"
just opening at the Theater Building. Ladies, I know I am prone to exaggerate
(when necessary) for the expressed purpose of manipulating people (it's
a gift) to do my bidding. But I MUST tell you this show is one of the
most fucking brilliantly hilarious things I have EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE
GODDAMNED LIFE. I cannot describe it - but I am still laughing. Suffice
it to say that any self-respecting person beyond a certain age who vividly
recalls the most indelible images of this epic will probably pee in his/her
pants. Yes, it is THAT funny."
RUN - don't walk - to the box office at The Theater Building and buy
your tickets - because EVERY performance of this show will be sold out.
BY BRIAN NEMTUSAK, Chicago Reader
David Cerda and Scott Lamberty's songs are droll creations that spring
naturally from the original dialogue and tell-don't-show dynamic, and
the singing (Ed Jones's intentionally hilarious turn as Carol Lynley excepted)
is excellent. Cerda's smart, funny script teases out the source's delights
and atroctities, both obvious and subtle, with loving care. Under the
direction of David Zak the inidividual portrayals are strong, with Michael
Miller, Tracy Repep, and Jennifer Connelly leading the way...
High Comedy on the high seas turned upside-down in 'Poseidon'
BY CHRIS JONES, Chicago Tribune
Handbag's first project has moved the troupe from the late-night fringes
to a prime time spot at the Theatre Building.... fans of the movie will
think they've died and gone to the Queen Mary!
As with all Cerda's prior shows, it's excessive, messy, unwieldy, played
partly in drag, full of terrific comic numbers... hopelessly esoteric...
and very funny.
Along with his strange ideas and warm spirit, Cerda's biggest strength
is his songwriting ability. And there are numerous well-staged production
numbers here, including the memorable "Just Panties" and "In
the Water, I'm a Very Skinny Lady."
Making waves on stage with 'Poseidon!'
BY MISHA DAVENPORT, Chicago Sun-Times
'The Poseidon Adventure" first docked in theaters on Dec. 12, 1972.
The film, about a luxury liner that capsizes on New Year's Eve, was nominated
for several Oscars and took home awards for best song ("The Morning
After") and best visual effects.
On the eve of the film's 30th anniversary, the Poseidon is poised to set
sail again, this time in the form of a campy musical from local playwright
David Cerda and Hell in a Handbag Productions.
"Poseidon!" is a perfect fit for the troupe. Handbag's managing
director, Steve Hickson says the group is primarily interested in offering
Chicago audiences pop-cultural fantasia based on favorite television shows
and films.
"I always tell actors who are new to our productions that we like
to color outside the lines, push buttons and turn up the volume and contrast,
but it all still comes from our hearts," Hickson says.
While many filmgoers consider "The Poseidon Adventure" to
be just another entry in the big-budget disaster movie genre that was
popular in the '70s, Cerda says the group's members aren't the only ones
to recall the film fondly. While writing his adaptation, Cerda joined
chat rooms and newsgroups to discuss the movie with other fans.
"There's a cult of fans out there," Cerda says. "They
discuss everything from who they'd cast in a remake to actually naming
every extra in the ballroom scene. People of a certain age just light
up when you talk about this film."
Cerda's show walks a fine line between parody and love of the film.
The setting is a New Year's Eve party where the guests--dressed as characters
from the film--have assembled to watch it as they ring in the new year.
The action from the film takes place stage right of the happenings at
the party. Some of the musical's most touching moments come during the
various monologues from the partygoers in which they discuss how and why
the disaster film has impacted them. Cerda says it was a challenge to
balance moments of parody with those of poignancy.
"I tried to mix both serious and comedic monologues in the show.
It's my way of trying to get the audience to accept that this is more
than just a silly movie. There's a reason people like it," Cerda
says.
If the script wasn't proof that Handbag takes their parodies seriously,
the production has been given further credibility courtesy of "Poseidon's"
director, David Zak. The artistic director of Bailiwick Repertory Theater,
Zak is well respected within the Chicago theater community.
"David Cerda is one of the most talented and underappreciated artists
in town. Through my involvement, I'm hoping to give his shows more visibility
and raise the bar for the work Hell in a Handbag is doing," Zak says.
Though it's being called Handbag's first production, just about everyone
involved with "Poseidon!" is a seasoned veteran of several productions
at Sweetback Productions. It's where the group perfected their level of
camp theater in musical parodies such as "Touched by Jayne Mansfield,"
"The Birds," and "sCarrie." The group broke off to
form Hell in a Handbag Productions after Sweetback's 2001 holiday show,
"Rudolph the Red Hosed Reindeer."
With the company counting the days, hours and minutes to the show's opening,
the creative team still tinkers with just how to adapt an epic for the
stage.
"I just wrote it. I'd drive myself crazy if I thought about how
we would actually do some of the effects on stage. Fortunately, the audience
is very generous. They're willing to suspend disbelief and go along with
us," Cerda says. "I wish we could capsize the stage, but we
can't."
It takes an incredible amount of creativity and ingenuity when you're
working with a modest budget. While "Poseidon!" has the largest
budget the company has ever had for any of their productions at Sweetback,
the show features a cast of 25. Coupled with the rising cost of rehearsal
and performance space rentals and costumes, Hickson says the group has
had to rely on all the visual tricks of the theater they've picked up
through the years.
"We couldn't swing the money for an inverted set," Hickson
says with a laugh.
In the end, "Poseidon!" isn't a scenic spectacular. Zak says
that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the company's
previous works.
"In a certain way, it's their strength," Zak says. "They're
able to do a lot with a little money."
Despite the financial constraints, Zak says the biggest challenge has
been condensing the material.
"You want the show to be a tribute to all those who know the movie
line by line. I also hope it works for people who've never seen the film.
Who knows, maybe it will give them a reason to go out and rent the film."
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