A Dialogue: ‘I Like Nuts!’
I Like Nuts! (The Musical)
Studio Theatre
Remaining performances:
Saturday, July 26 @ 4:30 PM; Sunday, July 27 @ Noon
They say: “Horatio likes nuts. He really, really likes nuts. Join Horatio and a cast including a Robot, a Pirate, a Vampire, and two Squirrels on a musical quest for nuts, knowledge and Norwegian fish balls. Including the musical numbers ‘Girls Don’t Like Adventure,’ ‘Everyone I Know is a Moron,’ and many others!”
Brian: Hey Ted. I like I Like Nuts!! I like I Like Nuts! a lot!
Ted: I’m not surprised. Why did you like I Like Nuts! so much, Brian?
Brian: Well you see, Ted, the show was a true expression of itself. The players were as earnest in their mounting of this goofy spectacle as Horatio Hornbeam (played with plain-faced nut naïveté by Nick Greek) was in his quest to follow the sagely nut guru’s orders, help Rob the Angry Squirrel find his long-lost nut tree, bring a robot, vegan vampire, pirate, and a guy named Gary all the way to Norway, and then soak up enough nut-knowledge to get his dream job at the nut factory.
Ted: Wow. You used the word “nut” like forty times there. Way to go.
Brian: What did you like about the show, Ted?
Ted: I liked the old dude.
Brian: Oh, you mean Jeff Baker! Wasn’t he super?
Ted: Beyond super. That guy transformed from faux-Hindu guru to disaffected nightclub owner to doddering old codger to overenthusiastic, anaphylactic neighbor faster than you can say “anaphylactic neighbor.”
Brian: Did you know that I’m actually a prophylactic?
Ted: What? You’re a condom?
Brian: Nipples!
Ted: Excuse me?
Brian: Nipples! I loved the part with the nipples!
Ted: Oh, you mean the scene where they twisted and tweaked and titillated each other’s–
Brian: Shhh! You’re going to spoil it for everyone! Why don’t you tell us something you learned from the show.
Ted: Oh, well, yes, I Like Nuts! was very educational. I think the most important lesson I learned was about all the things that aren’t nuts, including (but by no means limited to) coconuts, polka dots, corn, and “very small rocks.”
Brian: Yeah, all that was news to me as well. To think I’ve spent all these years putting polka dots in my brownies.
Ted: I love your brownies.
Brian: Thanks dude.
Ted: What was the most important thing you learned from the show, Brian?
Brian: I learned that despite mediocre singing and lagging tempo (they did it faster at the preview a few weeks back to grander effect–you can check out the video below to see for yourself), a show can still be more fun than a barrel of freaking monkeys.
Ted: Yes. It was an exercise in taking one thematic joke and actually making it sustain an hour’s worth of entertainment. The SNL skit-to-movie formula in successful action.
Brian: So, what’s the take-home, Mr. Ted?
Ted: I’d say see it if you want to renew your faith in the non sequitur.
Brian: Touché. And I’d say skip it if you’ve misplaced your epipen. Or if your co-worker used it to get high last Tuesday night and still hasn’t gotten you a replacement like he promised.
Ted: Um, yeah. I’ll get on that.
After the jump: that video we were talking about.
Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.
Tags: brownies, epipen, guru, i like nuts, nuts, polka dots, squirrel
July 21st, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Finally, a play that has everyting in life I have ever wanted, a Robot, a Pirate, a Vampire, and two Squirrels on a musical quest for nuts.
It’s sad that they forgot about adding 2 birds into the cast with broken left wings so they can only fly in left handed circles. And for that matter, where is the monkey on the bike that juggles?
July 21st, 2008 at 4:29 pm
You know, Chancy, we haven’t revealed everything about the show. You should go check it out yourself…you might just be surprised by what you find (monkey-wise).
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
The rest of the audience loved it, but I’d rather have Mr. T Eat My Balls ( http://web.archive.org/web/19981202133702/http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~nkpatel/mr.t/ ) than sit through another performance of “I Like Nuts”. The “Ate My Balls” web fad was downright witty compared to this abortion.
But in reference to the “Wizards of Workaround” post (http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/fringe/2008/07/10/enormous-changes-at-the-last-minute-the-wizards-of-workaround/ ), technically it was almost flawless. Quickly throwing together a musical with lots of cues is hard, but they pulled it off. Good costumes, too.