Schmigadoon! premiere review: We’re in a musical?!
Apple TV+’s latest, the musical comedy Schmigadoon!, premiered with its first two episodes this past week. A sendup of classic musical theatre (most specifically Rodgers and Hammerstein and the clearly referenced Brigadoon), Schmigadoon! follows two doctors, Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan Michael Key).
Melissa and Josh have been dating for four years and two months when they decide to go on a couples retreat hike to rekindle their relationship.
Of course, the hike is awful and the two quickly get lost in the rain before and they stumble on a bridge, hoping it will lead them out of the maze of the rainy forest, but instead, they get even more lost in the suddenly sunshiney and musical town of Shmigadoon.
From there, the general premise and vibe of the show are apparent from the trailers–Melissa and Josh find themselves trapped in a 1920s style musical, unable to leave until they find their “true love.”
Melissa is open to the new experience while Josh, much more cynical and withdrawn, refuses to get on board. This tension, and the true love revelation, prompts the two to finally and fully break up as they independently search the town for a way out.
What Schmigadoon! is doing, essentially, is using the very specific archetypes of classic musicals as a way to examine one particular relationship. But the brilliance of Schmigadoon! is that it works on multiple levels.
Similar to shows like Making History and even 30 Rock‘s more incisive moments, Schmigadoon! is at its best by working in several intertextual levels by reexamining the past in a fresh cultural context. This can work on the surface as seen when Josh and Melissa first enter Schmigadoon.
While Melissa is excited to get swept away in a town she compares to Colonial Williamsburg, Josh, a Black man, very quickly bristles, stating he doesn’t feel like, “pretending we’re in the olden days.”
The line is intended to further contrast the difference between the two, but the subtext is clear–“the olden days” were only “great” for certain people, an issue the show indirectly addresses more through subtle interactions with the world than direct dialogue.
However, when the show does more directly address it, as with The Mayor’s (portrayed by the perfectly cast Alan Cumming) song, “Somewhere Love is Waiting For You,” it works just as well, allowing for pure emotional moments and jokes about queer characters trapped in the past.
With high production values, sharp writing, and a nearly perfect cast, Schmigadoon! is off to a great start. We’ll have to watch and see whether Josh and Melissa can find their happily ever after…
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