THEATRE REVIEW: "SILENCE! The Musical" New York and Chicago Productions

      In August of 2012, I went to see the Al Kaplan / Jon Kaplan musical, or unauthorized musical parody of "Silence of the Lambs," called "SILENCE! The Musical."  We saw the production at the Elektra Theatre.  "SILENCE! The Musical" began previews at Theater 80 St. Marks on June 24th, 2011.  It officially opened on July 9th of that year and ran until July 15th, 2012.  On July 18th, 2012, "SILENCE! The Musical" reopened at the Elektra Theatre and ran until July 7th, 2013.  When I saw the show, the cast included David Garrison (Hannibal Lecter), Jenn Harris (Clarice Starling), Stephen Bienskie (Buffalo Bill), and Randy Harrison (Dr. Chilton).  The cast was funny and so was the show.  Some of the songs were pretty explicit and inappropriate.  

     This cast of "SILENCE! The Musical" also featured Ashlee Dupré, Annie Funke, Howard Kaye, Nick McGough, Topher Nuccio, Ronica V. Reddick, Pamela Bob, and Doug Trapp.  I have no idea which parts they played.  I assumed most of them played lambs and FBI agents.  My mom got tickets for Theo and I to see this show.  She had seen "SILENCE!" while it still played at the former venue.  We listened to the Original Cast Recording a bunch of times since then.  Kathryn and I listened to it on our way to Cedar Point during our 2012 summer trip.  Little did we know "SILENCE!" would premiere in Chicago four years later and we would go to see it!

     While the music and lyrics for "SILENCE! The Musical" were written by Al and Jon Kaplan, I forgot to mention that Hunter Bell wrote the book.  By "book," I am not referring to the novel "The Silence of the Lambs" by Thomas Harris.  I am referring to the book of the musical, or I guess the libretto.  I don't suppose libretto would be the right word, since this musical is not an opera.  There were so many funny lines that were spoken between the songs.  No, I don't remember them.  I just remember laughing hysterically.  

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     During the summer of 2016, a production of "SILENCE! The Musical" was mounted in Chicago, and Kathryn and I went to see it.  The venue was called the Cornservatory, and the production of "SILENCE!" was presented by Corn Productions.  While I took issue with there being novelty newspapers in lieu of playbills for the New York production, there weren't playbills of any form for the Chicago production.  Both formats proved quite difficult to scan.  Ha ha ha.  I'm so funny.  I should do stand-up.  

Brittany Vogel as Clarice Starling 

     As far as the cast of this production, I only know that Brittany Vogel played the part of Clarice Starling.  I just found that now.  It's not like I've known that since 2016.  Anyway,  I found out about the Chicago Production of "SILENCE!" while checking if their was going to be another off-Broadway production of the musical.  I told my mom about the Chicago Production when I found out about it, but I think it was Kathryn who bought the theatre tickets.  

         Before the show, I was waiting in front of the Cornservatory for Kathryn.  I remember being nervous about running in to people I knew because I used to live and work in the neighborhood.  Kathryn got their before long, we got to our seats, and then two former co-workers of mine came walking into the theatre.  It wasn't until after the show that I went up and said hi to them.  I was sure they saw me when they got there, so I figured it would be worse if Kathryn and I left without saying anything.  I should have told myself to think again.  One of the only things I could think of to say was "I saw this show in New York."  I said it more than once to them too, before and after introducing them to Kathryn probably.  

      Both productions were hilarious and featured the same gut-busting songs ("Would You F*ck Me?", "Are You About A Size Fourteen?", "Thish Ish It").  It is impossible for me to favor one production over another.  Hey, did I mention I saw this show in New York?  Also, I saw it in New York.