{"id":7083,"date":"2015-02-12T05:30:45","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T10:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=7083"},"modified":"2015-02-12T05:30:45","modified_gmt":"2015-02-12T10:30:45","slug":"musical-parody-gets-into-a-grey-area-50-shades-the-musical-parody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/12\/musical-parody-gets-into-a-grey-area-50-shades-the-musical-parody\/","title":{"rendered":"Musical Parody Gets Into a “Grey” Area: 50 Shades! The Musical Parody"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever since its 2011 printing, E.L. James<\/strong>‘ erotic romance novel 50 Shades of Grey<\/em> has been an inescapable presence in pop culture. Though as literature \u2013 five hundred pages of dominance, submission, bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism stitched together with little character development \u2013 James’ \u201cmommy porn\u201d leaves much to be desired, there’s no doubting the novel’s success. A film adaptation hits theaters just in time for Valentine’s Day 2015, and the two followup novels have enjoyed similar success in the marketplace (along with inevitable widespread critical drubbing). An endless stream of tie-in (ouch) marketing has resulted in a variety of adult-oriented products bearing the 50 Shades<\/em> brand.<\/p>\n

Anything that achieves that level of success is a rich target for parody. And where E.L. James’ book is concerned, the most spot-on skewering of 50 Shades<\/em> the book \u2013 and 50 Shades<\/em> the marketing juggernaut \u2013 is the stage show, 50 Shades! The Musical Parody<\/em>. A team of writers and choreographers with backgrounds in The Second City<\/strong> and Baby Wants Candy<\/strong> comedy troupes devised the musical as equal parts send-up and tribute. \u201cThere was a news story about the book every night, it seemed,\u201d says Emily Dorezas<\/strong>, one of the parody musical’s producer\/director\/writers. \u201cAnd then once we realized just how dirty<\/em> it was, we thought that the juxtaposition of making it a musical felt like the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center>Many reviewers have pointed out that while author James vividly describes BDSM and other activities, she betrays a paucity of imagination concerning such matters as word choice. There’s even a drinking game in which participants read aloud from 50 Shades of Grey<\/em>, pausing to knock back a shot every time Christian Grey \u201ccocks his head\u201d or \u201csteeples his fingers.\u201d Dorezas is diplomatic on the book’s literary merits, and chooses her<\/em> words with care. \u201cIt’s…not really plot-driven,\u201d she allows. With that in mind, the parody’s writers devised a plot of their own. \u201cThe book club ladies are a kind of framing device,\u201d Dorezas says. \u201cAnd one of them goes through a change after reading the book. We wanted to show some growth in the characters, because if we were just making sex jokes, that would get old in about five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n