Sports Redux: Pats Fans: Feel The Schadenfreude
Kells Closing
Photo of the Day, February 8, 2010: Alewife Station
Scott Brown: 41st Vote or Campaign Prop?
Sports Redux: "Bad Luck, Story of My Season, Nothing Can Go Right"
Last night Bostonist had the pleasure (perhaps a dubious pleasure to some) of being in attendance at the world premiere of The Nightman Cometh, the musical based on an episode of the crass comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The musical progressed mostly in step with its representation on the show, but we were treated to far more than just "Troll Toll" and "Dayman"—including a sneak peak of the new season and the Christmas DVD.
The evening began in typically infuriating House of Blues fashion, with an insanely long line (containing only one Green Man, surprisingly). We were eventually shepherded through the House of Blues lobby and into a sketchy alleyway behind the House of Blues, where we were divided into "male" and "female" lines for security screening, with the "male" line progressing about five times faster due to the lack of female screeners. We suppose this kind of frustrating behavior is, if nothing else, a great way to guarantee that folks will buy booze as soon as they finally get into the venue.
But the assault on our senses didn't end once we were inside. We had a full half hour of Craving Lucy, a disturbing blend of Creed, Coldplay, and Joey Fatone, with a lot of hair gel and tattoos mixed in. The band actually played its bland brand of rock-metal competently enough, but was completely out of sync with the rest of the evening. Audience members clapped politely as the lead singer ran through his shtick, calling the band a "mutt" because it has members from both Boston and New Hampshire. When the band closed with big single "Therapy," you could almost hear the crowd sigh with relief. Whatever Live Nation representative paired this band with this event did them both a disservice, and we hope future events don't feature such an incongruous pairing.
Did things start to look up after these initial insanities? Find out after the jump!
Between the band and the musical, we got a sneak peak of A Very Sunny Christmas, the upcoming Christmas DVD, as well as an episode (“The Gang Reignites the Rivalry”) from the show's fifth season, set to begin tomorrow night. The Christmas excerpt was more disturbing than amusing, and the episode felt a bit over the top, with perhaps a bit too much pointless mean-spiritedness. Still, there were many moments of classic Sunny self-centeredness and immaturity, sometimes reaching peaks of real hilarity. The episode also features flip cup, tasers, and body paint. We'll leave the rest to your imagination.
The musical itself followed the "Nightman Cometh" episode of the show very closely, with the added interest of putting on a real musical, not just a television one. "Troll Toll" was a hit, as was Night Man's solo, and Mac's (sorry, Night Man's) cat eyes were absolutely searing. It was fun to see the show's stars up close, and they played their parts well, even if there wasn't as much improv as we might have liked. Dayman's triumph over Nightman was borderline inspiring, and the chorus of "Dayman" at the end nearly brought tears to our eyes. Call us sentimental, but the story of a tiny little baby boy overcoming first an itchy-toed troll and then a ninja Nightman in order to fall in love with his princess—well, it gets us every time. Even when it's followed by a failed plea from Charlie for the Waitress to join him in the sea of matrimony.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's fifth season starts tomorrow night on FX. The musical will be in NYC tonight, Philly for the season premiere Thursday, and on the west coast next week. Worth your while if you're a fan, unlikely to convert you if you're not. There's still time to enter a Playboy contest to play Gladys on stage if you're fanatical (our Gladys was played by Socrates Manuel, who was amazing).
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
thank you for the review. as a fan who could not get ny tickets, i really appreciate your summation.
you mentioned being disappointed in the screened episode. the reasons you gave are pretty much how i have felt about the last two seasons. i feel the characters have lost all sense of distinction. dee is no longer the straight man but a degenerate the same as dennis. and dennis is like mac. and frank is like a dennis/mac hybrid. i think this has made each episode just outlandish without any real clashing of the characters.
it's a shame because it used to be my favorite show and now it is going to go to DVR heaven.