The musical's creators, Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick, plotted their cult hit to draw on catastrophe films such as Airport (1970) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) but pepped things up by adding period musical gems like "Hooked on a Feeling," "Hot Stuff," "I Am Woman" and “25 or 6 to 4.”
The action commences at the height of boogie fever in 1979 New York on the opening night of a floating casino and discotheque. Of the cast of 10 wacky characters aboard the inevitable deathtrap, some are looking to get lucky, while others are investigating rumors of shoddy construction practices and the possible disturbance of a seismic fault-line. Pretty soon, bodies are falling from the ceiling as every conceivable worst case scenario unfolds with increasing absurdity, from explosions to animal attacks.
Circle Arts Theatre Artistic Director Robin Williams told the Current that the production leans heavily into '70s-era chic. When the costumes made their grand debut at the first dress rehearsal — big collars, loud patterns and all — the cast and crew realized just how much their characters "have been amped up by these ridiculous costumes," he added.
Whether it's the leisure suits or the disco tunes that draw them there, theater-goers are in for a cataclysmic evening of high-stakes drama with this quirky, crowd-pleasing spectacle.
$22, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through February 23, Circle Arts Theatre, 124 Elizabeth St., New Braunfels, (830) 837-6172, circleartstheatre.org.
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