Central Florida is suddenly overflowing with theatre this summer. We have a new Tampa Fringe festival wrapping up today and the latest installment of our mammoth Orlando Fringe starting Wednesday. It's raining theatre.
One of my Saturday shows was Game of Thrones: The Musical, a show in from Minnesota. Game of Thrones as a play would surely be a Shakespearean tragedy. Really Spicy Opera's musical take on it is a comedy with tragic elements. It's sort of Avenue Q: Westeros Edition – people die right and left, sometimes singing and sometimes just plain dying. Highlights include Jon Snow's (Austin Stole) romance with Ygritte (Nicole Korbisch), which ends comically with a shootout and that most famous of one-liners, "You know nothing, Jon Snow." Ygritte/Korbisch gets in one of the best songs in the show, a parody of "Colors of the Wind" from Pocohontas called "Join Us, Jon Snow."
There were more monologues than I expected scattered between a puppet ballet (!) and show-within-the-show epic tragedy (alas, Ned Stark, we hardly knew ye). These explore the lives of Ygritte, Cersei (Kendra Yarke), Brienne (also Kendra Yarke), and Melisandre (Suzy Juul). These are interesting and give interesting insights into what makes the women tick and what uphill battles they've fought. Melisandre/Juul gets in another song in at Jon Snow's expense, this one a parody of "On My Own" from Les Mis. The costume and wig changes get faster as the show goes on, but there was never a time when I wasn't sure who was speaking.
Don't let the puppets fool you – Basil Considine's excellent script makes it very clear that this is a show for adults. It lasts about an hour and covers Seasons 1-6. I'd like to see more and was a little disappointed that Cersei didn't get a song. There was also no sign of Tyrion or Daenerys, so there's certainly room to expand. About an hour and a half would be better to see more of these excellent ladies at work. If you're a Game of Thrones fan, you shouldn't miss it!
