Bad Musicals Festival

(Henry and Hyde, Jessica Delfino and

Charlie Chang and the Mysterious Salami)

The Producers’ Club Grand Theater

358 West 44th Street

212-352-3101

Review by Bryan Clark

 

Henry and Hyde’s sanitized plot summary states that the title’s dual character must “battle it out for love or lust. Will it be a lifetime of virginity until marriage or letting his dark side take control?” But the full-length description clarifies: the play is part of Artist Unlimited’s Bad Musicals Festival and features “a personification of manhood, a porn star, cowboys, an evangelist, and aphrodisiacs.” If I had put it all together and realized that Henry and Hyde would be about a white guy whose big virginal genitalia is played by a black guy in a penis-and-testicles costume, I would have stayed home. But then I would have missed the brilliant opening show, along with the exquisite intermission comedy.

 

Charlie Chang and the Mysterious Salami starts the evening, with book and lyrics by Anne Berlin and music by Andy Cohen. Under the hilarious direction of Tony Spinosa, we are treated to a thriller spoof set in a New York deli, with character names such as Frankie Guido, Whiteman Blackman, and The Gay (two actors in flamboyant, precise tandem). The songs are seamlessly integrated into the screwball story, resulting in a 45-minute laugh riot, which would perfectly suit the Atlantic City casino crowd.

 

Jessica Delfino provided intermission entertainment. Her ten-minute, two-song acoustic guitar shtick was delightfully vulgar. After her performance, fully two-thirds of the audience wisely headed home.

 

As for Henry and Hyde: the show suits the Bad Musicals Festival conceit to a regrettably literal degree. The songs are of the Broadway-standard variety — dull, forgettable, and even worse than the vapid book. But the ultimate atrocity is the guy in the male genital outfit, complete with a glans-shaped hood and a pair of puffy kneepads. The performances in Henry and Hyde are mediocre at best, but the casting is on par with the content — amateur unfunny schlock.

 

Check out the excellent Salami musical curtain-warmer (and entr’acte Jessica Delfino, if appearing), and then head for the door.