Prepare for the worst

Don’t let the fact that your ship is sinking make you feel like you are sunk.

When bad things happen, they can sometimes lead to good musicals. Disaster! on Broadway–case in point–is ridiculously entertaining.

Conceived by Seth Rudetsky along with Drew Geraci, and created by Rudetsky with Jack Plotnick, Disaster! began life as an indie production off-Broadway and travelled the distance to the Nederlander Theatre, where it is in an open run.

There is no need to extrapolate deep meaning from Disaster! Could it be any sillier? Probably not, but honestly it doesn’t have to be. Everyone–especially the younger audience it will attract– should just sit back and enjoy the wild ride; for us older folks, the disco music track to which this musical is set is a fab mood booster.

I have to admit I never expected to hear “Saturday Night” outside my Tuesday step class.
Disaster! also gets some very juicy traction from “Hot Stuff,” which does heavy-lifting pulling along a lot of (plot) lines.  Superbly curated hits from the ’70s cleverly edge the story along. Mix the zaniness with a terrific cast, and you have a highly entertaining evening.

Kevin Chamberlain, singing “You’re the one” with Faith Prince, is sweetly adorable. Kerry Butler having some regrets is a credible liberated damsel, doing a sort of sotto-voce version of “I am woman.” Baylee Littrell is a very talented youngster with great comic timing. Roger Bart is a reliable bad guy. Standouts in the ensemble are the very gifted and funny Rachel York; the always excellent Faith Prince; the delightful and handsome Adam Pascal; and the Broadway newbie, Lacretta Nicole.

For more information about Disaster!, please visit http://www.disastermusical.com/