'Newsical' Takes on News, Political Icons

Associated Press/AP Online

NEW YORK - It's "The Daily Show" set to music.
Presidential candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry preen and strut with puffed-out chests while fake news reporters deliver the day's headlines mid-sashay. Michael Moore is there, too, with bullhorn in hand, accusing the Bush administration of hiding flu vaccines to keep the voters on the toilets, and not in the polls, on Nov. 2.

With political comedy back in vogue thanks in large part to a highly competitive presidential race and savvy comics like Jon Stewart and Bill Maher, the timing couldn't be better for "Newsical," a riotous off-Broadway musical that satirizes the news and the political and pop culture luminaries who make it.

No one is safe in this quick-witted and lively show, directed by Donna Drake and playing at the Upstairs at Studio 54. The flexible cast of four jumps in and out of characters so quickly, the impersonations begin to blur and become indistinguishable, almost like the 24-hour cable news channels they seek to spoof.

In one scene, Kim Cea does a remarkable Michael Jackson, who is confronted by Peter Pan about his attraction to young boys. The sequined-glove-wearing Jackson professes his innocence to Peter, who demands to be called a "fictional American" rather than a fairy tale character, before jumping off a ledge to his demise.

The death has the audience cheering - and in stitches.

But it's Stephanie Kurtzuba's frenzied antics that steal the show. The Broadway newcomer shines in a tragic and slightly off-kilter solo number about the perils of Internet dating, at one point frantically licking her keyboard and pinning it to her chest as she instant messages her love interest.

She follows that by hopping on the bar as a dazed Liza Minnelli, maniacally fussing with her hair and dress while she sings somewhat incomprehensibly about her estranged husband, David Gest.

A show that relentlessly skewers celebrities and pseudo-celebrities - from the recently "outed" New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey to the recently incarcerated Martha Stewart - could come off as harsh and tiresome if not done in good humor and with a quick tempo.

Fortunately, Drake keeps the scenes snappy and none of the material in "Newsical," which is continually updated to keep pace with the real news, is particularly malicious. The show was created by musical satirist and comedian Rick Crom, who treats his subjects lightly - though not entirely benignly.

It's the right mix of acerbity and levity that has worked so well for Stewart, Maher and the rest of the late-night comics who remind their viewers not to take the world so seriously - particularly when the King of Pop is singing to a man in a Peter Pan costume.