Bedbugs!!! (NYMF)
Sure to develop a cult following, this rock-tinged parody musical pushes all the right buttons as its human characters hunt for the button on the right bug spray. These Bedbugs!!! are not your pesky little New York nippers, but six foot tall monsters, funny as all get out and with stronger sex drives than their B-movie equivalents. If these bugs bite, you die. And you don’t need antennae to suspect a couple are as gay as the lab assistant (the instantly endearing Ryan Bogner, who somehow nails things with a less-is-more performance in a show that screams -literally -- of excess).
Settling a score, scientist Carly (appealing Celina Carjaval) catches the eye of the preening glam-rock Bug King (a wonderfully off-the-wall Chris Hall). More rock mockery comes via a devastatingly sharp parody of Celine with spot-on and fearless Brian Charles Rooney in drag, ready to save the world or her career: choose one.
Some may go scurrying when the lights come up on "Bedbugs!!!" if horror rock in the style of "The Rocky Horror Show" bugs them, but I found the broad humor a hoot. Composer Paul Leschen and playwright-lyricist Fred Sauter collaborated on story and concept. Kudos! I’d give a B-plus to this B-movie style spoof. Samuel Buggeln directs smartly, proving he didn’t get the gig because of his surname.
The comedy material is better than the songs -- could be a problem for a musical, or is it that the antics are generally just so entertainingly well done, and music comes second in a musical parody anyway? Nevertheless, "Bedbugs!!!" is pretty much up to scratch.
Part of the NYMF new musicals festivalSee www.NYMF.org to learn about and hear songs from all the shows. Perfomances 9/24 at 4:30 pm; 9/25 at 4:30; 9/27 at 11 pm.
