‘Heated Rivalry’ Is a Playful Musical Parody of the Hit Hockey TV Series

As a couple of recent Broadway productions have reminded us, a good parody is generally at least as clever as it is goofy, and it never overstays its welcome. “Schmigadoon!,” a sendup of and homage to old-fashioned musicals now up for twelve Tony Awards, does the latter, stretching winking references into two long acts; “Titaníque,” one of its rivals for best musical, is almost aggressively witless.In contrast, Dylan MarcAurele’s “Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody,” now running off-Broadway at The Culture Club, offers 75 minutes of pure fun, even if you’re not familiar with the titular TV series. That program, based on a book series by Rachel Reid called “Game Changers,” follows two professional male hockey players who embark on a secret romance and became an instant cultural sensation when it premiered on HBO Max last year.I’ll admit I never got past the first episode, which paired competing stars Shane Hollander, a Canadian, and Ilya Rozanov, a Russian playing for a Boston team, in scenes that are sexually graphic even by current standards for cable and streaming series showcasing young, attractive performers. The musical opens with a nod to women who have more readily embraced the series: Three “45-year-old American live-laugh-love wine moms,” as Mr. MarcAurele’s stage directions identify them, welcome us to the venue, promising to deliver “gay hockey players with big butts.”The gals are all named Susan; the “Main Susan” is played by Ryann Redmond, who narrates the story with impish relish and, like the trio’s other members, juggles various additional roles. Jay Armstrong Johnson and Jimin Moon are respectively cast as Ilya and Shane; both resemble the youthfully handsome actors who play their characters on television, and like their counterparts, both bare ample amounts of flesh.Happily — for me, anyway — the musical offers only flashes of carnality (one of them literal), and however naughty, they’re played strictly for laughs. Ilya’s substantial derrière, apparently a subject of intense interest among fans of the series, becomes a regular punchline. His first song, “Big Ass, Cold Heart,” also establishes the icy persona he has cultivated as the result of a tough upbringing: “Dead eyes/Round butt/My soul/Close shut,” he laments.As other titles like “A Heavy Load” and “Shane Hollander, Slap That Stick!” suggest, Mr. MarcAurele’s lyrics and dialogue are sprinkled with double entendre, though the comedy is unabashedly unsubtle. This “Heated Rivalry,” at least, doesn’t seek to impress us any more than it tries to pass off extensive, explicit bedroom scenes as vital to its emotional resonance. Its creator just wants us to have a good time.Director Alan Kliffer stays true to that goal, keeping the pace brisk and the tone sprightly. Jimin Moon’s relentlessly cheerful, rather dim Shane is a good foil to Mr. Johnson’s almost creepily stern Ilya. Cherry Torres, who first appears as one of the Susans, lends support as both Shane’s hyper-demanding mother — “Maybe with a little soap and water, that loser stink will wash right off,” she tells him after a bad game — and a young woman named Svetlana, Ilya’s confidante and occasional lover. Ryan Duncan is hilarious as Ilya’s father, who turns up in a jacket festooned with military medals and refuses to acknowledge that the Cold War is over, and Kip, another young gay man who works at a smoothie bar. Viewers of the series will know that Kip also finds love, with a hockey captain named Scott Turner. Scott is played here by an audience member enlisted by the cast at each performance; the character has only one scene, but it includes a good chunk of dialogue.At the preview I attended, a journalist did the honors, and he was so smooth and funny that I later asked him if he had ever been an actor. He insisted he hadn’t, so I can only assume he was inspired by the infectious playfulness of the production, which, fortunately, can be enjoyed just as much if you don’t actively take part.

‘Heated Rivalry’ Is a Playful Musical Parody of the Hit Hockey TV Series

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