SNAPSHOT
Described as a parody of iconic Golden Age musicals, Schmigadoon! centers around a couple on a backpacking trip designed to reinvigorate their relationship as they accidentally discover a magical town living in a 1940s musical. They then learn that they can’t leave until they find “true love.”The six-episode season will be led by Emmy Award nominee Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live) and Emmy Award winner Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele). Joining are Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Fred Armisen, Jaime Camil, Jane Krakowski and Ann Harada along with Martin Short for a guest-starring role. (synopsis courtesy Coming Soon)
I used to hate musicals.
There was something about the ridiculously upbeat cheesiness and the way everyone knew all the words to the songs when it seemed no one had ever sung them before, that mystified and yes, annoyed me.
But somewhere between childhood dislike and grown-up gay man (not that all gay men likes musicals but let’s be honest, many of us do), I fell in love with the vivacity and fun of musicals, taking great joy in their giddily jaunty stories (although again not all musicals are resolutely positive but they still have a way of feeling soul-soothingly separate from reality).
Would I, however, want to be stuck in one, especially if the only means of escape was falling in love?
Depends on who you’re falling in love with right? In the case of Schmigadoon!, which may see me taking on a fifth streaming platform – seriously everyone enough; the sheer proliferation of platforms is getting way out of hand! – the couple who have to fall in love are a long-established twosome who need some pizazz back in their relationship.
Will this odd, sing-songy town deliver that for them and will it be fun to watch?
I think it will since right now, with my hometown of Sydney in the midst of a hardcore COVID lockdown, I, and a great many others, need all the diverting entertainment we can get.
Schmigadoon! premieres on Apple TV+ on 16 July.