The Brain from Planet X

In the interest of full disclosure, before I start my thoughts on Brain from Planet X, I should mention that I am listed as a production assistant in the program, and therefore am not entirely without bias. And without furthur ado...

I've mentioned before my disdain for the growing trend of self-conscious musicals - while individually they can be taken as love letters, I think as a whole they represent the growing discomfort with the musical as a form. As if the only way for a musical to be accepted is for it to be ironic. We know this is a musical, we know musicals are silly, and we're going to play it that way. (One of the things I like so much about Starfighter is its sincerity in this matter. It's unapologetic about its existence and it never references the fact that it's a musical. It just is.) But you can't expect anything but camp when going to a show entitled The Brain from Planet X. So why criticize it for that?

Framed with a Rocky Horror-like narrator, The Brain from Planet X has a negligible plot - the Brain (with his sidekicks Zubrick and Yoni) comes to earth with hopes of invading using his foolproof plan ten from outer space on unsuspecting nuclear family The Bensons. Like any good 50s b-movie, there's no attempt to give depth to any of the characters, so they hit every stereotype possible - doting wife, clueless husband, rebellious daughter who's tonguing a wannabe-beatnik, crazy old professor, power hungry general, sex-crazed alien. And since they don't need to introduce characters, there's more room for jokes. Luckily, so few of them fall flat that the lack of plot and interesting characters doesn't matter - it's damn funny.

As Fred, Rob Evan never breaks from the happy and simplistic character he creates, even when his marriage falls apart at his feet. It's a performance that no doubt looks easier than it is - imagine keeping a blank face while an alien in a leopard skinsuit is trying to seduce you. Amy Bodnar's Joyce is slightly creepy even before she's taken over by the will-bending machine, and Merrill Grant's Donna is frighteningly elastic. Poor Barry Pearl, so hilarious in rehearsals, was severely hindered by his binding costume as The Brain. The two that really stole the show for me were Chad Harlow, whose wordless performance as Private Partz had me rolling at every cock of the eyebrow or cynical gesticulaton and Cason Murphy as the uptight Zubrick, who gets two showstopping numbers in 'The Brain Tap' (see? it's a tap number, but also a medical procedure. cute!) and 'All About Men'.

The set, a series of projections, doesn't quite do the show justice, but is hilarious in its b-movie simplicity. The show takes full advantage of its NYMF-ness - a scene where General Mills addresses an assembly of cardboard cutouts and then demands answers which of course never come is the perfect example. Bruce Kimmel's music is simple but enjoyable and incredibly catchy, which I guess is an assessment that could encompass the entire show. It's not rocket science. It's just fun.

In short - every musical should have a number with buff men in gold spandex swim trunks.