The Musical: The Musical, is an improvised musical about putting on a musical. Specifically, in this second show of the 2020 NZ Improv Festival, we follow the struggles and personal growth of a crew of (mostly) highly theatrical characters as they audition for, rehearse, and open a new musical called – after slight confusion over audience offers is resolved – The Giraffe Escaped. 

To simplify this review I will be referring to The Musical: The Musical as TM:TM and The Giraffe Escaped as Giraffe.

The team behind TM:TM, The Pāua Ballads (Bethany Miller, Wiremu Tuhiwai, Matt Hutton, Pippa Drakeford, Malcolm Morrison, Austin Harrison) are a group of improvisers from across Wellington “recently united over a shared desire to perform an improvised musical together”. As they appear one by one as the auditionees for Giraffe, it also becomes clear they’ve also created characters they will take a simple enjoyment in playing – and the enthusiasm is soon shared by the audience.

In the auditions, the characters introduce themselves to Giraffe’s director (Tuhiwai) and Musical Director (Liam Kelly), also playing the music for TM:TM. There is a smugly amateur-theatrical luvvie (Morrison), an operatic primadonna (Miller), a flamboyant weirdo (Hutton), a young lad who is there because his parents made him (Harrison), and his diamond-in-the-rough elderly aunt (Drakeford), who – while I am never quite certain whether she wais miming a zimmer frame or not – is utterly at home in the role.

All the characters then begin to interact, over the casting (everyone is somehow disappointed) and rehearsals – the players focusing on drawing out each character’s vulnerabilities and pushing their relationships to the point where the only solution is to burst into finely-executed musical-style song. They have feelings; they change it up; the chorus joins in; they are changed. Except possibly through that one song with all the jokes about playing a giraffe’s rear end.

The songs, to be clear, are almost entirely not the songs from Giraffe, and through the rehearsal scenes we are repeatedly teased as the characters are instructed to prepare some song from the show before balking and, eventually, singing about their own inner journey.

We also see snippets of ‘rehearsed’ text from Giraffe and occasional references to the plot. Memorably, to back up Miller’s operatic diva’s efforts to ‘belt’ showtunes style, Harrison suggests they find that rough emotion by skipping to “the scene where the giraffe escapes but no one goes to find him so he gets really angry.” The ensuing song is a highlight, with Miller methodically shifting from smooth operatic style to grinding emotion then being joined by Harrison’s death-metal-shout counterpoint. Engmatic hints of Giraffe intrigue us; the story TM:TM is very much about the people.

It is a strange note in a light-hearted (though sometimes heartfelt) show that we quickly hear Morrison’s character has a restraining order against Hutton’s. While this doesn’t seem especially earnest (especially given the whole thing is resolved by good will), even considering taking it seriously jars with the feeling of the show.

The closing number of TM:TM is the opening number in the premiere of Giraffe – but the unrepentant hook of the chorus (“GirAFFE! Experience! GirAFFE! Experience!”) is divided by each character singing about their personal journey through rehearsals. A catchy and satisfying way to round off a fun, fun, musical musical.

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