My overall impression
It takes merely a glance at the inflatable children’s pool serving as “The Blue Lagoon” to know that this is not simply a stage version of the Brooke Shields 1980’s drama that my Netflix describes as “steamy” and “romantic.” The Jonathan Padget penned musical is about as far removed from that as possible.
Funny and light-hearted, The Blue Lagoon: A Musical tells the story of two young cousins (a fact that the audience is urged to remember) who are shipwrecked on an island. The duo (comically portrayed by Shayna Albertson and Anthony Johnson) learns to get along, discovering their survival instinct and sexual urges along the way.
The silly show is dotted with songs such as “(Even Though We’re Related) My Heart Palpitates When I See You,” which, while musically simple, are excellent for Johnson’s pop tenor. Albertson’s voice, on the other hand, is too classical for the material. It is suited better for a dark, operatic musical than a campy joke of one.
Direction by Kenny Howard keeps Albertson and Johnson physical, allowing for more opportunities of humor to emphasize the single joke that the musical is based on: These are cousins who are in love.
While the musical is fun and the cast talented, a single joke does not a show make. It would do well as a pre-show to cult screenings of the movie, or as a skit in a larger show, but on it’s own, the material of The Blue Lagoon: A Musical is as flimsy as the walls of the inflatable pool.