What I liked
This was a super-fun romp through both our collective pop culture consumer memory while also being a lighthearted glimpse into the mind of a creator in a high-pressure enviornment struggling to make the work so he can pay the bills and keep his love/wife.
The three Jingle Spirits were Aw-to-the-Some with attitude and style; the lead Jingle Spirit, the wife and the jingle writer were on point with fabulous voices – especially the wife MY GOD; the actual parody jingles written were great.
Very much liked the wife character was not a nag stereotype. She was supportive of her partner! Suprising how rare you see that approach.
After the preview show I saw we were told that each performance is slightly different for reasons of cast (I think?). If I were able to see all the other versions of this show during Fringe, I would. It was so much fun!
What I didn't like
It could benefit from being a bit tighter. It should feel like a stumble run without actually being a stumble run, if that makes sense? As in the “errors” should come across as Clearly Not Errors But Intentional.
I’m not entirely convinced the narrator character is necessary because what’s going on between writer / wife / spirits is clear in the story, and also two people does not a Brady Bunch make. (Trying to avoid spoilers with this bit of crit.) Drop the narrator and maybe there’s a bit more room to breathe/flesh out elsewhere in the story.My overall impression
A fun and fast musical with an appealing cast and earworm-worthy original jingle songs, especially the one that is the whole point of the show. Worth checking out!
