If all of this feels a little overwhelming, just thank your lucky stars you didn’t have to experience it in real life like Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan-Michael Key), the two non-singing protagonists who happened to wander into the TV show’s fictional town. In Schmigadoon, everyone breaks out into song constantly, including the reverend and his wife (Fred Armisen and Kristin Chenoweth), the mayor (Alan Cumming), the schoolteacher (Ariana DeBose), and every other citizen, no matter how important they are to the story. (The show also boasts a talented chorus of Broadway vets.) The stage production, which debuted for a limited run at the Kennedy Center earlier this year, tells the same story. The Broadway cast will be announced at a later date, but the Kennedy Center production starred Sara Chase and Alex Brightman in the Key and Strong roles respectively, with support from Isabelle McCalla, Javier Muñoz, Ann Harada (who was also in the television series), and more.
The new musical features all of the original songs creator Cinco Paul wrote for the first season of the TV series, as well as some fresh numbers. Paul also wrote the book for this production. It was produced by Michaels, who said the following in a press statement: “Schmigadoon is a love letter to the Golden Age of movie musicals. It’s a little bit nostalgic and a lot of fun. We’re very excited to bring it to Broadway.”
Schmigadoon! previews will begin April 4, before its April 20 opening night. The show is currently set to run through September 6. If you get stuck in your own inescapable musical town for the length of that run, don’t worry too much. Schmigadoon! aired a second season (titled Schmicago!) before Apple TV+ canceled the series while the third was still in production last year. If this first run goes well, Paul told Playbill he hopes to bring all three to the stage sometime in the future. For now, it would be a good time to throw on the Schmigadoon! soundtrack (and maybe Brigadoon‘s while you’re at it) for a refresh.
