Craft’d, an Unauthorized Musical Parody Cast a Spell over us!

Synopsis

The Craft has been one of my favorite movies forever. It is one of the first movies I’ve ever seen that portrays being a witch even close to accurately. While I can’t float or make snakes come out of someone’s fingers (that I know of), I do relate to the way that witchcraft, or Wicca, is described in the film. Combine that with an amazing performance by Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True, and you get an amazing film. I lost count of how many times I watched it.

So when I saw that The Majestic was putting on an Unauthorized Musical Parody of the Craft, I knew I had to go. I loved the Scream Musical Parody they did last year. It was filled with music, jokes, and references to the 90s (a decade when I was just becoming a teenager). That decade helped make me what I am, and these movies were a major part of that. A coworker of mine told me that the Craft’d musical had actually been put on by The Majestic a couple of years ago, and she was pretty sure I had gone. But I didn’t remember much and was happy to revisit either way.

The theater was set up the same way the Scream musical had been, with tables in the front and a warning to stay in your seats once the show started. That led us to guess that, like the Scream musical, the cast would be coming in and out of the audience. The theater was beautifully decorated, with a giant pentacle on the floor and a backdrop painted like an Ouija Board.

The show started like an old-school episode of Jerry Springer, with Sarah talking about what it was like to be a teenage witch. Then it segued right into the movie, with Sarah moving to LA and starting school.

The Good

This show was so good that most of this entry is going to fall in this category. Not only were the songs right up my alley, mostly rock, but they were sung amazingly. You can hear NIN, the Cure, and the Smiths, sung and played by an all-girl rock band and belted by amazing new voices. When Jenelle Catherina, who played Bonnie, did her first solo, I actually got goosebumps. Then it was followed by equally amazing solos by the other three main characters.

They were belting out the lyrics with so much energy it took my breath away! Later in the show, they sang “How Soon is Now” by the Smiths. My generation will recognize that as the theme song to Charmed, which I loved. But they sang it with such expression, it is still ringing in my head a week later.

The set was very well put together as well. That pentacle I mentioned in the middle of the floor? It was not there just for decoration. It’s a platform with a hidden motor underneath. It slowly rotates during the scene where the coven calls the corners, allowing the audience to see all of the characters in turn. Beautiful way to allow the characters to form a circle without anyone’s back remaining to the audience for too long.

I have to give major accolades to Samantha Souza, who played Nancy. There is one scene in the movie, and I’m pretty sure any fan of The Craft knows which one I mean, where Fairuza Balk truly goes wild. And this actress did it perfectly, even to the facial expression. It was like magic had happened, and 1996 Fairuza had appeared in the theater.

The costumes were perfect tributes to the ’90s. At one point, Nancy is wearing a plaid patchwork skirt that I could swear I owned in my freshman year of high school. And yes, this does make me old, but that was in the same decade that the Craft came out. One of Bonnie’s skirts seemed awfully familiar, too…

The ’90s jokes were so much fun. The first thing I loved was the subtle nod to the original craft when you looked at Skeet’s letter jacket. Instead of St. Benedict’s Academy, the name of the school in the original film, the characters now go to St Fairuza High School. They are in the class of ’96, the year the film was released. I bet that jacket is going on display in the Majestic lobby after the show is done!

The Jerry Springer bit used for the framing tale of the musical was hysterical. The audience joined in, chanting “Jerry, Jerry” like they were in the live studio audience. Add to that the ’90s movie titles peppered throughout the script, and you’ve got an entire show full of hilarious inside jokes aimed entirely at ’90s kids.

The Bad

I mentioned when we went to Scream’d that the prices were one of the negatives. Those prices seem to be here to stay for the Majestic Repertory Theater. But at this point, I think they are just keeping up with the rise of all prices in this awful economy. The costumes probably cost more, and the actors have to be paid more to live their lives. It sucks.

The only other thing that may have been seen as a negative was that the show was a little front-heavy. The first half seemed much longer than the second half. At first, I thought it was just because the second half is so action-packed that it seemed to go much faster. And I’m still not sure that I’m wrong about that. But it definitely felt uneven.

Dragon: There’s my cue hehe. While I love the close-knit feeling the Majestic has, due to the late intermission, it can be problematic. The layout, however, isn’t receptive to needing to get up and go to the restroom without interrupting everyone, as it’s technically on the stage. I tend to be the type who doesn’t want to be a bother. I also tend to pay attention to a lot of things… such as where actors sneak into the audience to make entrances from there. Combine those two things, and well, I can be a bad dragon (hehe, no, not that kind). I couldn’t wait any longer, figured there wasn’t an intermission, and didn’t want to be a bother, so I made my restroom escape via the hidden entrance. No, not to the one on stage but to the one… oh, 2-3 blocks away at the Cornish Pasty (yummy nom noms), as that’s where we had dinner before the show (for reference, there’s a bar next door which would have been closer but I wasn’t thinking beyond where I knew there was one that wasn’t on stage).

Once I got back, I didn’t want to interrupt, so I asked Lauren, who was at the greeter’s podium, if I could sit on the couch until intermission. Turns out, while I made my escape, the intermission had happened. At least Andre had let me know when we went outside to talk and not interrupt. Andre scolded me relentlessly (okay, not really) about how I shouldn’t use the hidden entrance, as people could get hurt. I sat on the couch for a few more minutes, and the show ended… so yeah, the intermission was definitely way beyond the “middle” part.

Overall

So, my work friend was right about me having seen the show before. I realized it about one song into the show. But I didn’t mind at all. Since I didn’t remember much, the show seemed new to me, with ghosts of the previous one popping out of my memory. I got to listen to some great songs, laugh at some great jokes, see some awesome stage craft, and all in all, have a very fun night. If you haven’t seen it, I would totally recommend it. If you have seen it during the first run and can afford a ticket, I would recommend seeing it again. Cause who can’t use a laugh and a good song in today’s insane world.