[title of blog post]

We don't even get through Lockstock's first line of the Urinetown script before we understand there is something unusual going on:

..."Urinetown 'the place' is...well, it's a place you'll hear people referring to a lot throughout the show."

Lockstock breaks the fourth wall immediately, and not only begins to narrate, but also acknowledges that we are about to see a show, with scenes and two acts, that Lockstock may or may not be part of.  Little Sally and Lockstock go on to have a conversation about the appropriate amount of plot exposition that is appropriate for an opening musical number.  This idea of standing outside the plot device, and commenting on it, is called self-reference, and has been used more and more frequently in Broadway's post-modern era.

Urinetown is a consummate example of the self-referential musical.  Half of my posts so far have dealt with the various theatrical traditions that Urinetown is knowingly commenting on, and there are many much smaller self-referential moments as well:  Bobby comments on the lighting he is standing in; Little Sally comments on the number of lines she has been given; Lockstock comments on the theatrical device of moving in slow-motion (while he is himself moving in slow-motion).  Urinetown references itself so often, it could reasonably be accused of narcissism.

But Urinetown at least pretends to have a meaningful plot, with an overall message.  Some post-modern musicals in recent years hardly even bother.

The navel-gazing gets so out of control in 2008's [title of show] that it's hard to know at any given time whether you are inside or outside of the plot (if that phrase even has any meaning here).  [title of show] tells the history of its own creation:  two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical about... you get the idea.

This small  musical is written for the serious theatre geek. (In the first five minutes you get a reference to Henry, Sweet Henry, a failed little musical that opened in 1967.  I don't know anyone who would get that joke.)  To be fair, even if you don't get all the jokes and references (and you won't), it's still not a bad little show.  It's title, [title of show], refers to one of the blanks in the form you have to fill out to apply to bring a show to the New York Musical Theatre Festival.  And yes, [title of show] actually opened off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Festival.  And it's another rare example of an off-Broadway production making the transition to a Broadway opening. Being small and self-referential appears to be the ticket out of off-Broadway. Here's a flavor:

Another self-referential musical, which met with somewhat less success, was The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), 2003.  This one started on off-Broadway - and stayed there.  The amalgam of self-reference and parody was staged in five acts.  Each act was designed to parody a particular musical composer or composer/lyricist team, all with the same basic melodrama plotline:  I can't pay the rent!  The five acts include:

Corn!   
An homage to Rodgers and Hammerstein shows (Oklahoma!, Sound of Music, South Pacific, Cinderella), which includes a wish song and a dream ballet.

A Little Complex
A parody of Stephen Sondheim musicals, featuring New York neurotics, alcoholism, depression and murder, but no happy ending.

Dear Abby
A comment on Jerry Herman musicals (Hello Dolly, Mame), featuring a plucky older woman whose advice, given between many costume changes, makes everyone's lives better.

Aspects of Junita
A send-up of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals (Evita, Sunset Boulevard, Cats, Phantom of the Opera), featuring a pop-opera score, an aging diva, and a falling chandelier.

Speakeasy
A Kander and Ebb homage, mainly to Chicago and Cabaret, set in a 1930s speakeasy. Everyone sings about how depressing life is while wearing skimpy clothing.

Musical of Musical frequently crosses over the line from self-reference into outright parody, which may be part of the reason that the musical only lives on in sountrack form.  But I can't leave this discussion without mentioning the single-most famous show of the last 30 years that continues to brutally (and lovingly) parody the Broadway musical:  Forbidden Broadway.

Forbidden Broadway isn't really theatrical show; it's actually a four-person musical revue, originally staged in the backroom of a Manhattan restaurant in 1982, which pokes fun of the current slate of Broadway offerings.  The revue changes from year to year, with a steady mix of old standards and new targets.  Each of its songs are parodies of Broadway shows, re-written with rapier wit, and hilarious intentions.  Performing for over thirty years now, over 12 cast recordings have been published.  If you enjoy a good parody, and are a fan of Broadway, I can strongly recommend listening your way through a couple of these.  I was lucky enough to see the original incarnation of the show in the mid-eighties, when some of the current shows being skewered at the time included:  Amadeus, Pirates of Penzance, and Evita.

After taking a short break last year, Forbidden Broadway is back, and is now housed at the Davenport theatre.  They've come up with hundreds of great parodies (and some not so good) over the years, but if you've never heard their style, here's their extended riff on the two female leads of Wicked, 2003:

Enjoy!