The Musical Apocalypse

If a musical about Supreme Court justices seems far afield, how about a zombie apocalypse comedy horror musical spoof? 

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, which performs at Center Stage Theatre in a school-friendly version this weekend, tells the story of what happens when a meteor crashes in a town called Hatchetfield, bearing an extraterrestrial hive mind effect that has the townspeople helplessly singing and dancing for no apparent reason. That’s a major issue for Paul, an accountant who is just an average guy, but absolutely can’t stand musicals. The musical pandemic escalates to where the townsfolk begin committing murder. It’s up to Paul and his friends who haven’t been infected to save the town, and humanity, from the musical apocalypse. 

The show began life in a small L.A. theater in 2018 through StarKid Productions, with just a few hundred people seeing it live. But it has become a YouTube sensation over the years, with more than nine million viewers to date, and has also spawned two sequels and a series. 

Now the musical – loosely inspired by 1956 horror film Invasion of the Body Snatchers – is coming to Santa Barbara. The show is produced and directed by longtime Montecito resident Megyn Price, the award-winning actor, writer and director best known for her TV roles (Claudia on Grounded for Life, Audrey in Rules of Engagement), in a project with her daughter, Grace Cotner, a senior at Santa Barbara’s Fusion Academy. 

Think of the show as a cross between 1950s-era B-movie horror pictures and Schmigadoon, the recent TV send-up of musicals. 

“Instead of zombies walking around, the invaders are singing and dancing with jazz hands,” Price said. “It’s really fun and very different, with music that jumps all over the place and quotes from many sources. Grace is a big fan.” 

Putting on the show from scratch was an exercise in producing and assembling not only a cast, but a theatrical team from connections and a bunch of strangers. Creating an opportunity for other young actors to perform was a big motivating factor. 

“Working with more avant-garde musicals wasn’t the only reason that I did this,” Cotner said. “There are a lot of schools in town that have cut funding to arts programs, and I wanted a way of getting students into the field who didn’t have dedicated theater programs in their schools.”

The cast has a number of high school students as well as younger City College freshmen, including Adam Hibbard, who will enroll in PCPA’s program in the fall. Grace is among the actors portraying a number of characters in the fast-moving show. 

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals performs June 6 & 7 at Center Stage Theatre. 

Visit https://centerstagetheater.org