http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/en ... 231785.php
Friday, August 4, 2006
Theater: 'Giant Green Lizard! The Musical' has kitschy appeal
Review: A Fullerton musical parodies Japanese monster flicks of the '50s.
By ERIC MARCHESE
A serious musical about Godzilla?
Not in our lifetimes, which puts "Giant Green Lizard! The Musical" in the same category as other spoof musicals seen in Orange County in recent years – notably, "Blake, da Musical" and "Musical of Musicals – The Musical!"
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The result has "parody" written all over it, a silly, goofball-funny show that both tips its hat to and derides the campy genre of monster movies that began to emanate from Japan in the 1950s.
Part of the show's joke is how Newell and Gable were told by those who own the Godzilla trademark that a musical about him would demean the big green guy – so the duo proceeded with the more acceptable substitute name.
"The Musical," though, has Godz– er, "Giant Green Lizard" – written all over it. We're in Tokyo on New Year's Eve, with various Japanese and American characters at Toji-San's Karaoke and American Grill. Strange tremors preclude the appearance of "Gizard," a 600-foot-tall reptile who once rampaged through Tokyo but now defends it against other giant-sized monsters who would do it harm.
