This popular Cultch musical returns for a three-night run, in a live, streaming version. I had not seen any iteration of the show, and I confess it was a little different than what I might have expected.
The songs are, for the most part, lyrically adapted or taken directly from real Craigslists ads. The inherently strangeness or humour of each ad is certainly highlighted by giving it this musical treatment, and a wide variety of musical styles and creative instrumentation are used to give each song its own personality. The performers do an outstanding job bringing out the humour (and sometimes pathos) in each number.
For me, though, I have to confess that the concept wore thin after a while, particularly given the lack of any kind of narrative through-line. It was all a bit too much like that late-show comedy gag where Twitter messages are read out dramatically; funny as far as it goes, but I wanted more.
Once we reached the "Heavy Metal Roommate" song – naturally, a hard-rockin' number – I was longing for the approach I guess I had imagined: an actual storyline and specific characters, with songs taking their cue from these strange-but-true Craigslist ads while doing more than just following their words, but creating a backstory for them.
That said, these bite-sized comedic nuggets, presented in a socially-distanced way as they are, provide both consistent laughs and a commentary on the strange times we're living in.