半岛体育

Welcome to Schmicago, the fictional city at the center of the second season of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio鈥檚 musical comedy series Schmigadoon! The first season, which premiered in the summer of 2022 on Apple TV+, followed a modern couple, Josh and Melissa (played by Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong), who have grown complacent in their relationship. On a couple鈥檚 retreat in the woods, they stumble upon the magical town of Schmigadoon as it appears from the fog (Like Brigadoon, get it?). They are trapped there, inside a world of Golden Age musicals, and cannot escape until they find true love.

Last season, 半岛体育 writers recapped each episode of Schmigadoon!, calling out the allusions and spotting the many Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, Willson, and Gershwin tunes referenced in the show.

We鈥檙e back to do the same for Season 2鈥檚 Schmicago, which takes us to the grittier and darker musicals of the mid-鈥�60s and 鈥�70s. The first two episodes dropped on Apple TV+ April 5. The remaining four episodes will release weekly on Wednesdays beginning April 12.

Episode 1: "Welcome to Schmicago"

Talaura: Oh man. I have been excited about this for some time now. But I have to admit, I don鈥檛 know this time period of musicals as well as I know Golden Age, so I鈥檓 counting on you, Logan, and your musical theatre degree to make sure I don鈥檛 miss any jokes.

Logan: You鈥檙e in luck because as everyone knows, anyone with a musical theatre degree is both highly educated in musical theatre history and loaded with cash from working in the incredibly lucrative industry for which they trained. But to tell the truth, I鈥檝e been anticipating the mere idea of this since the first season of Schmigadoon! ended. The fact that they actually made it is mind-boggling. I鈥檓 interested to see how they tackle the next era of musical theatre, because that group of shows is not as homogenous as the Golden Age classics! I have faith in Cinco and his whole team, though.

Talaura: So, to catch us up a bit, the first season ended with Josh and Melissa sure that they are each other鈥檚 true love, but BLACKOUT before we actually see them cross the bridge to leave Schmigadoon. Season 2 begins 鈥�10 Seconds After Schmigadoon鈥� and Josh and Melissa are smiling in the woods. They made it out. They are true loves! We knew that, though, didn鈥檛 we?

Then we see a montage of their marriage and their life together over, presumably, the next couple of years. They buy a house. They have picnics. They do their doctor jobs (she鈥檚 an OB-GYN, he鈥檚 an orthopedist). They visit a fertility doctor. They are beginning to seem unhappy. And we鈥檙e getting little Schmigadoon reminders鈥 kazoo in Josh鈥檚 t-shirt drawer, Melissa 鈥渉ears鈥� someone say 鈥淐orn Puddin.鈥欌�� (Aside: 鈥淐orn Puddin鈥� won last year鈥檚 Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. Watch the video here.) We鈥檙e hearing some Schmigadoon tunes in the plaintive underscoring. The fertility efforts aren鈥檛 working. Now they鈥檙e downright sad. And within the first five minutes of the first episode, we know exactly where Josh and Melissa are. That鈥檚 some very economic storytelling.

Logan: Did you catch that the shopper who Melissa thought she heard talking about Corn Puddin鈥� was former Elphaba Jessica Vosk? I was surprised because in my experience, she鈥檚 been more receptive to musical theatre outbursts.

Talaura: Donned in the vintage sherbet plaids of musical theatre/ice cream social costuming, the couple heads back into the woods to search for Schmigadoon and the magic they found there. But really, they're just lost in the woods, so they give up and go home. 

Logan: Melissa and Josh suddenly find themselves dealing with a flat tire. And wouldn鈥檛 you know, that just happened to befall them while driving over a creepy bridge drenched in theatrical haze fog. It turns out they鈥檝e found their way to Schmicago and are being greeted with a pretty one-to-one parody of 鈥淢agic to Do鈥� from Pippin. Not only is the accompaniment paying homage to that iconic introductory piano vamp, choreographer Christopher Gattelli is giving us an almost complete recreation of Pippin director-choreographer Bob Fosse鈥檚 original staging for the number, disembodied gloved hands and all.

Looking around, I spot some 鈥�60s and 鈥�70s musical theatre characters, from a vengeful, knife-wielding man covered in blood, to scantily clad women, scruffily dressed orphans, and circus-adjacent hippies. They鈥檙e all here! New cast member Tituss Burgess looks to be Schmicago鈥檚 Leading Player (Pippin)-Emcee (Cabaret) type, telling us what鈥檚 going on but always with a sneaky twinkle in his eye.

Talaura: The entire company welcomes Josh and Melissa to Schmicago, which they describe as 鈥渁 fantastical farrago,鈥� with Burgess鈥� Narrator suddenly behind them barking 鈥淟ook it up!鈥� Well, I did. A farrago is 鈥渁 confused mixture: hodgepodge.鈥� That tracks.

Logan: No tea no shade, but this feels like a reference to Pippin songwriter Stephen Schwartz鈥檚 penchant for filling his lyrics with鈥ell, let鈥檚 just say words that one isn鈥檛 likely to hear in general parlance (you know, like "penchant" and "parlance"). I'm willing to bet more than a few Wicked fans don't understand this "verdigris" that everyone fixates on, according to Elphaba (from the lyrics of "The Wizard and I," "verdigris" is when copper oxidizes and turns a blueish green, like the Statue of Liberty. Gold star for me!)

Talaura: Our narrator tells us exactly what the season鈥檚 obstacle is in, 鈥淭he Tale of Josh and Melissa, a typical married couple in the midst of a typical existential crisis, here on a quest for the most elusive of treasures: happiness.鈥� So, they can鈥檛 leave until they鈥檙e happy鈥攁 seemingly difficult task for this era of musicals that rarely have big happy endings and joyous finale numbers.

One of things we talked about a lot last year was what was being satirized within the parody. Like, there were a lot of moments throughout the season where the gender status or treatment of women in the Golden Age were being called out. It鈥檒l be interesting to see what commentaries are made during this era of musicals.

Logan: We solved women鈥檚 rights after the 鈥�50s, right?

Talaura: Mmm-hmmm. Melissa helps us along by dropping a couple of musical titles from this era: Chicago, Cabaret, Pippin. Oh, and that she鈥檚 less familiar with these shows, too! Same, girl. Same.

Logan: Melissa says she was never into this era of musical theatre because of a childhood trauma involving being taken to a production of Sweeney Todd and having to leave early after being splattered with blood. Fun fact: I saw a production of Sweeney last summer at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York (that鈥檚 right鈥擨鈥檓 naming names) and because I was seated on the front row, I was forced to wear a rain poncho鈥攂ecause they used a blood cannon. That鈥檚 not a phrase I really ever imagined existing. Sondheim, with a splash zone!

Talaura: Did no one tell Thomas Kail about the blood cannon? Missed opportunity...

Logan: I also loved that one of the defining features Melissa cited for this era of musicals is imperfect rhymes, revealing that she also passionately believes they鈥檙e wrong. A lovely homage to the fiercely held opinions-cum-fact amongst musical theatre fans. Yes, dear 半岛体育 readers鈥攚e see what you鈥檙e writing in the comments (and believe me, we鈥檙e usually right there with you).

Talaura: Again I say, same, girl. Same. 

After a little back and forth about whether they should stay or whether they should go, Josh and Melissa make their way to the Hotel Schmicago. There they find an 鈥渆xtremely blonde鈥� and German-accented Ann Harada behind the front desk. As Melissa pointed out in the opening number, all the actors from the first season are playing different characters. Harada was a sweet and prim Mayor鈥檚 wife in Schmigadoon. Here she appears to maybe be a Fr盲ulein Schneider, the landlady from Cabaret.

Logan: But who also seems to be a Madam now? I鈥檓 not mad about it.

So our dynamic duo check into a dingy room, only for an eccentric young woman in a stylish bob to walk in. Is this Sally Bowles? No! Dove Cameron has moved on from season one鈥檚 Betsy to season two鈥檚 Jenny Banks and she鈥檚 perfectly marvelous. I would be remiss if I didn鈥檛 add that Cameron is specifically paying homage to the movie version of Sally Bowles, as she, like Liza, has dispensed with the stage character鈥檚 British accent.

Talaura: Her patter is spot on, darling. It really is. 

Josh and Melissa go to the Kratt Klub, not to be confused with Cabaret鈥檚 Kit Kat Klub. It鈥檚 kind of empty and quiet. The next number is diagetic (the actors know they are singing)鈥攁 performance on stage at the nightclub. With the dancers lined up at a ballet barre center stage, this looks like Fosse鈥檚 鈥淏ig Spender鈥� from Sweet Charity. And the first notes reference the number, too.  

I was going to say this during the opening number, but I got sidetracked. It's kind of amazing to hear these very familiar opening vamps, but then completely different melody and lyrics fall out of the actors' mouths. 

The showgirls sing 鈥淒o We Shock You?,鈥� pointing out a man in a dress, their tattoos, and other not-really-shocking-to-a-2020s-couple sins, which seems a little La Cage Aux Folles, but also I believe is a reference to Sally Bowles,' "Am I shocking you, talking like this?," after telling Cliff she's living with but not married to a man. In their time, though, some of these musical moments must have been really surprising to audiences emerging from the Golden Age. It had been happening in movies, but to have premarital sex set to song was surely scandalous.

Logan: This definitely feels like a tribute to Fosse鈥檚 smut-forward sensibility. We鈥檙e also getting somewhat of a Sweet Charity mash-up in the choreography. I spotted steps from Fosse鈥檚 鈥淏ig Spender,鈥� 鈥淭here鈥檚 Gotta Be Something Than This,鈥� and 鈥淚鈥檓 a Brass Band.鈥�

Talaura: I think I just heard a little 鈥淩ose鈥檚 Turn鈥� in the orchestration there鈥� 鈥滺old your hats and hallelujah/Mama鈥檚 gonna show it to you.鈥�

Logan: I am, as ever, in musical theatre nerd heaven.

Enter Ariana DeBose, last season鈥檚 Marian the Librarian stand-in, Emma, now the Kratt Klub鈥檚 Emcee. Ya, they鈥檙e not even making this hard. The character is literally the Emcee, just like in Cabaret. I was more interested in the names of the Kratt Klub cabaret girls, which included Annie, Kate, Molly, Tessie, Pepper, and Duffy. I think these girls would have trouble making that stage floor shine like the top of the Chrysler Building. Yes, those are the names of Miss Hannigan鈥檚 orphans in Annie鈥攂ut still unrevealed is what kind of monster would name their child Duffy.

Talaura: And while "Kratt Klubb" is giving us a little "Kit Katt Club" in its name, I can't help but see a little shrouded nod to Nazi-era Germans. Kraut? Can we say that? Is that bad?

Logan: Google says that鈥檚 mostly a slur against German WWI and WWII soldiers. I鈥檓 OK with slandering that group, to be honest.

Josh and Melissa find out they鈥檙e sitting at a reserved table, reserved for the club鈥檚 owner, Octavius Kratt. This is one of this season鈥檚 new players, Broadway favorite and Tony nominee Patrick Page! He seems to be playing a Judge Turpin-like basso villain鈥攖erritory Page is all too familiar with, having played Spider-Man鈥檚 Green Goblin, The Lion King鈥檚 Scar, and Hadestown鈥檚 Hades on Broadway.

Talaura: It's also cracking me up that Harada鈥檚 character name is Madam Frau, which is basically Woman Woman. (But also, a whorehouse Madam, as you pointed out earlier.)

Logan: Thank God I鈥檓 finally getting to write about whorehouses in 半岛体育. And it鈥檚 not even related to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas!

Now it鈥檚 Jenny鈥檚 turn to give us her brand new number, 鈥淲e鈥檝e Gone Kaput.鈥� The music is one part Kurt Weill, two parts Kander and Ebb. There鈥檚 chair-ography. There鈥檚 double entendre. Ladies and gentlemen, we are watching a mash-up of Cabaret鈥檚 鈥淒on鈥檛 Tell Mama鈥� and 鈥淢ein Herr.鈥� And for good measure, they threw in a pretty direct quote of Chicago鈥檚 鈥淲hen You鈥檙e Good to Mama鈥� vamp there at the end.

Talaura: And there's "Mein Herr" wordplay in the lyric, too! 鈥淕et him out of mine hair.鈥� God, that鈥檚 good!

It occurs to me that all we鈥檝e seen so far is basically Fosse choreography, with Pippin, Sweet Charity, and Cabaret. We know we鈥檙e probably getting some Chicago numbers, also Fosse. But I remember seeing some Godspell characters (the aforementioned circus-adjacent hippies) in that opening number, so I looked at the to see who choreographed that. No one. No one is credited for choreography in the original production of Godspell. Is that weird? Am I the only person who didn鈥檛 know that?

Logan: I did NOT know that, but of course Godspell was heavily improvised and borderline devised theatre. I bet the original company just "yes, and"-ed their own way through the staging.

Talaura: Josh leaves Melissa at the table 鈥渢o go powder his nose,鈥� stumbles past a Mein Kampf-reading Nazi backstage, and goes into a dressing room where he鈥攇asp!鈥攆inds a dead girl. They try to high-tail it out of town, but not only does their car have a flat tire, now it won鈥檛 start. They open the hood of the car to check the engine and *poof* there鈥檚 the Schmigadoon leprachaun (Martin Short), who reiterates, via song, that they are stuck there until they find a happy end.

鈥淭hese musicals don鈥檛 have happy endings!鈥� exclaims Melissa.

Logan: Josh says they should just think happy thoughts, but I鈥檓 like鈥� Mary Martin鈥檚 Peter Pan debuted in 1954, Keegan. Wrong era!

Talaura: With the police sirens closing in, Josh and Melissa try to run across the bridge, and like in Schmigadoon, they end up right back on the same side of the bridge where they started. *Magic.* Jaime Camill, the town doctor in Schmigadoon, is the cop waiting to arrest Josh for the murder of the showgirl Elsie Vale.

Logan: Come to think of it, she was the .

Talaura: Bah. I didn't get it. I tried to Google the name and only came up with a signed Bavarian plate on Ebay.

Logan: The first episode ends with another 鈥�60s-鈥�70s musical theatre standby: a transition reprise of the opening number!

Episode 2: Bustin鈥� Out

Logan: If you鈥檙e locked in suspense, never fear. We got two episodes this week鈥攁nd if we鈥檙e being honest, none of us have anything better to do, so we鈥檙e definitely going to keep mini-binge-ing.

Episode two starts in jail, with Josh incarcerated for murdering Elsie. We find out that his fate could be worse than the inmates of the Cook County Jail. In Schmicago, Josh is up for the electric chair. And apparently, it gets used a lot.

Talaura: [Sings this next part like the Narrator] Josh is getting a cellmate. Look, it's Aaron Tveit. Schmigiddy-wait!

Suddenly Josh is in a completely new musical world than we've been dealing with in Episode 1 (although it was definitely hinted in the opening number). It's the hippie musical. Think Hair, think Godspell, and also Pippin. Oh, but we've had Pippin. A lot. Now I've confused myself. The narration and the Fosse means Pippin kind of straddles both worlds. ANYWAY. Aaron Tveit played Danny Bailey in Season 1, a sort of Billy Bigelow-like carnival barker. Now he's here with a puff of curls on the top of his head looking very John Rubinstein/Victor Garber. He's all peace and love and daisies and believes all the inmates are innocent.

Logan: Including a gold-suited Conrad who "didn't touch that girl" (Bye Bye Birdie).

Talaura: Topher, as Tveit is called in Schmicago, sings "My Doorway to Where" which is a very exaggerated "Corner of the Sky," Pippin's soul-searching anthem. Schwartz's lyrics like "Cats fit on the windowsill/Children fit in the snow" become Paul's "Camels make love in the desert/A table works best with a chair." I am constantly tickled at both Josh and Melissa's unfiltered reactions to the strange world around them. There are lots of little looks arounds and small exclamations. "Your doorway to where???" repeats Josh here. Because it is so ridiculous (like many Schwartz lyrics).

Topher cryptically tells Josh that he's going to make it his mission to get him on the Happiness Bus.

Logan: Meanwhile, Melissa is working on getting Josh a lawyer, and she鈥檚 set her sights on Mr. Flanagan. Except鈥攚hoops! It鈥檚 not Mr. Flanagan at all. It鈥檚 Jane Krakowski, last season鈥檚 Countess, now back as Bobbie Flanagan. The character is, of course, a nod to Chicago鈥檚 usually male lawyer Billy Flynn. And 鈥淏obbie" is a nod to the leading woman in the recent Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim鈥檚 Company鈥攚hich reimagined its leading role to be female. So many layers of musical theatre references.

Talaura: Melissa acknowledges her own bias in looking for Mr. Flanagan, but she's quickly reminded that ladies can be lawyers but they shouldn't expect to be judges. Sexism has indeed not been solved in whatever time period we're in now. The 1920s, the 1970s?

Bobbie recites her credentials over a vamp with some Fosse Charity walks 脿 la Roxie's monologue. She stops to straighten a framed newspaper headline on the wall that reads, "Execution Frazzles, Bobbie Dazzles," a little nod to Flynn's "give 'em the old razzle dazzle" and Roxie's "I always wanted my name in the papers."

Oh, also! It surprised me to discover that Krakowski, with the exception of Damn Yankees! at City Center Encores in 2008, has never done a Fosse work or a Kander and Ebb work. I asked her. She confirmed.

Logan: That needs to be corrected immediately. I'm calling the Weisslers.

Bobbie suggests that Melissa spend her time getting a job at the club so she can look for clues as to who actually killed Elsie, which Bobbie calls the 鈥渟tandard play.鈥� This plot point isn鈥檛 giving me so much musical theatre references as it is giving me Murder, She Wrote. But I鈥檇 love to see a Murder, She Wrote musical so I鈥檒l allow it.

Talaura: Who would you cast as Jessica Fletcher?

Logan: It's a shame Angela won't be able to reprise her performance, but in lieu of that I think, I would say Audra. She's similarly likeable, similarly beloved, similarly Tony-winning. I'm calling the Weisslers.

Back at the club, auditions are being held for Elsie鈥檚 spot in the chorus and everyone is on stage wearing what appear to be old-timey swimsuits. A truly divine audition sequence follows, 鈥淚 Need to Eat,鈥� heavily borrowing from A Chorus Line鈥檚 鈥淕od I Hope I Get It,鈥� complete with nods to Michael Bennett鈥檚 original choreography鈥攖he auditioners even sing about Melissa popping her head, just like A Chorus Line鈥檚 Cassie.

Talaura: Just like Chorus Line's Zach, Madam Frau asks for the auditioners' life stories. We get snatches of 鈥淎t the Ballet鈥� and 鈥淣othing,鈥� and we get to see what happened to Liesl Von Trapp after she stayed up and tasted her first champagne. Melissa steps forward with "I am a doctor, a doctor doctors," a reference to 鈥淢usic and the Mirror"鈥攕he even ends the sequence in that number's iconic final pose, 脿 la Donna McKechnie. The chorus line moves to the front of the stage for the classic headshots pose or, in Melissa鈥檚 case, driver鈥檚 license.

Logan: Proving that sometimes story matters more than logistics, Melissa gets the job despite being...choreographically challenged, let's say. Justice for the movers of the world.

Back in prison, Bobbie is visiting her new client, entering as the prisoners sensually sing her name. We鈥檙e getting yet another layered reference here, with nods to both 鈥淩oxie鈥� and 鈥淎ll I Care About Is Love鈥� in Chicago, and Company鈥檚 many 鈥淏obbie baby, Bobbie bubbes.鈥�

Talaura: Sidebar...this reminds me of seeing Bebe Neuwirth play Billy Flynn in "All I Care About Is Love" one year at Broadway Backwards, and I've wanted that ever since. I will now also accept Jane Krakowski in the role.

Logan: According to this lawyer, winning a murder trial is all about razzle dazzle 鈥渇lim flam, flapdoodle, and pizzazz,鈥� which is luckily her specialty.

Talaura: Pretty sure "flapdoodle" was also a lyric in Kristin Chenoweth's big Season 1 number "Tribulation." Note to Cinco Paul: I will expect to see it somewhere in Season 3.

Logan: Les Schmiz! Let's manifest that into reality.

Talaura: We're back at the club, and a stagehand passes the camera carrying a stack of Fosse hats: bowler hats, the straw hats for "Who鈥檚 Got the Pain," and those Spanish hats from "Cool Hand Luke." There are details everywhere. It takes 90 minutes to watch a 30 minute episode because I'm pausing to look at the details. (You saw Topher had a sock puppet in that last scene, right? Good Samaritan?) Madam Frau gives Melissa rouge for her knees. Details!

But plot stuff: Jenny offers to show Melissa the ropes and, with Elsie out of the picture, becomes Jenny's roommate.

Logan: But it's only one sordid room, it's Schmicago instead of Chelsea.

Now Bobbie and Josh are at a press conference, where Bobbie seems to be less focused on Josh鈥檚 innocence than with telling the story of what drove him to murder Elsie. And what did drive Josh to murder Elsie? Why, jazz, of course! Josh goes rogue and insists he鈥檚 innocent, which convinces the press that he鈥檒l fry for the crime.

Talaura: In this scene, we get what looks like will be our running joke for the season. Season 1 it was Pete's injuries. Season 2 it is a very famous Sondheim line from "Ladies Who Lunch." I think we forgot to call it out in the first episode.

Logan: Does anyone...still call it out...in the first episode?

Back in his prison cell, Melissa has arrived to tell Josh she got a job performing at the club鈥攚hich she swears is mostly so that she can help save him from this trial. In true form, Topher moves to launch into a reprise of 鈥淢y Doorway to Where,鈥� only for Josh and Melissa to put a stop to that.

Talaura: Josh and Melissa were so much at odds with each other in Schmigadoon. Here they are really on each other's side. I like this. 

In Elsie's old room, Jenny and Melissa dish a bit. Turns out Elsie was Kratt鈥檚 favorite and now Jenny is cozying up to Kratt. He promises to make her a big star, which is all she's ever wanted. Sergeant Rivera comes to get Jenny for Kratt.

Logan: A member of law enforcement doing a villain鈥檚 evil bidding, 脿 la Sweeney鈥檚 Beadle!

Talaura: Rivera and Melissa seem to share a Schmigadoon moment. They were courting there, after all. It's quickly subverted as Rivera warns Melissa to watch where she sticks her nose or she could end up like Josh.

Logan: Now alone in the apartment, Melissa looks for more clues and finds a boa. As she puts it on, we cut to a cabaret number performed by Jenny, Melissa, and the Emcee鈥攁n Andrews Sisters-like, 鈥淵ou Could Drive a Person Crazy鈥�-style musical performance, 鈥淏ustin鈥� Out.鈥� Meanwhile, Topher鈥檚 band of hippies busts through the prison wall to get Topher and Josh out of jail and onto the literal Happiness Bus.

What I love about this moment is they鈥檙e not just satirizing specific songs from this era of musical theatre鈥攖hey鈥檙e satirizing how musicals from this period love to use songs. Grittier and more naturalistic stories don鈥檛 give as many opportunities for straightforwardly entertaining numbers, so writers of the period鈥攑articularly Kander and Ebb鈥攕tarted using showy, old-school numbers with thoughtfully written lyrics to ironically comment on the plot. Think how Sally Bowles has a mental breakdown singing 鈥淟ife is a Cabaret, old chum.鈥�

Talaura: There's a cabaret cast party in the dressing room to celebrate Melissa's opening night. Her popularity gets her Elsie鈥檚 star dressing room, where she finds a notebook with 鈥�17 Quick St. 11 AM every Sunday鈥� written on it. A clue! The underscoring sounds suspiciously like Sweeney Todd鈥擟ould 鈥淨uick鈥� be a stand-in for 鈥淔leet?鈥�

Logan: On the Happiness Bus, everyone is singing "My Doorway to Where," including Josh, who did not sing until the final episode of Schmigadoon. He's really digging Schmicago. Tituss Burgess鈥� Narrator, also on the bus, is not digging this sing-along. He looks like the basketball coach who got stuck chaperoning a bus full of theatre kids during his off-season. Or perhaps a stage manager on a non-union tour.

See you next week for Episode 3! And in the meantime, browse through new photos from Schmigadoon! Season 2, which includes a look ahead to future episodes.

Fore more episode recaps:
Orphans for Sale and Group Nudity: What Happened in the 3rd Episode of Schmigadoon! Season 2, Schmicago?

First Dates and Daddy Issues: What Happened in the 4th Episode of Schmigadoon! Season 2, Schmicago?

Jesus Christ Superstar Megamix! What Happened in Episode 5 of Schmigadoon! Season 2, Schmicago?

Happy Endings: What Happened on the Season Finale of Schmigadoon! Season 2, Schmicago?