Friday, November 17, 2017
Pre-Broadway Review: Jimmy Buffett Musical ‘Escape to Margaritaville’
Variety: You know what you’re ordering with a musical comedy based on the music of Jimmy Buffett, an artist whose beach bum persona and preference for Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops contribute as much to his success as his formidable songwriting skills. “Escape to Margaritaville,” now in Chicago as the last stop on a pre-Broadway mini-tour, successfully pulls off the laid-back attitude while delivering a paint-by-numbers, frequently goofy romantic comedy replete with many of Buffett’s most popular tunes.
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Mamma Mia meets Jimmy Buffet. I never thought I would ever be able to say that, but here we are. I had heard mumblings about this show and didn’t know what to expect. Jukebox/legacy shows can often be successful. “Jersey Boys” and “On Your Feet!” both did fairly well and were not immediate flops. I guess there is just something about the persona and music of Jimmy Buffet that doesn’t scream Broadway as much as The Four Seasons or ABBA. However, this show has been in development for a while now and has been preview in multiple places and this review makes it seem like the show is a good, but odd, place. Even though I had heard of the show, I didn’t know how the story was told, i.e. if Jimmy Buffet was the main character or if it was more Mamma Mia style. I think the article puts in best with “you know what you’re ordering” and I think a lot of people are going to be interesting in ordering this.
A Jimmy Buffett musical... Not just an idea at a bar but an actual broadway show lined up to preview this February. I was simply scrolling through some PTM articles this morning when I learned of this weird combination for the first time. I really wonder what the exact intent and purpose for this stories existence though and how exactly this will all look on stage as it just seems like an odd combination. The review here from Playbill and the ones that I've seen just from a quick google search seem to shed it in a nice light but something about it just still seems out of place. And this is comping from a musical theatre nerd who grew up fishing in the Gulf of Mexico listening to Son of a Sailor all day. I'm really interested to see how this piece works out and where it will go.
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