The Zipperface Review or How to Promote Your Peers and Pupils 101
So calling this a review may be a bit of a stretch — more like an expose of a theatrical history. Should anyone ask me about this show, my biased love for ZIPPERFACE!!?! The Hobo Musical is fairly evident. You see, if I were to go back in time (insert Wayne’s World-esque diddly-doo flashback dissolves), I could show you the labor pains of this mighty musical and its recurring onslaught of leather-clad insanity. Forgive me if I get a bit nostalgic. Actually, I don’t need your forgiveness because you’re reading this and dooming yourself willingly.
Essentially, the writers of Zipperface!!?! entered Rutgers and the College Avenue Players (of which I was already a member) when they were freshman and I was, I believe, a junior, already a veteran groupie of the theater scene (by groupie, I mean I was going to a lot of the shows and dating some of the actresses). I had helped in some tech work and was considering co-directing The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr Abridged for the following year. Around this time, I met Dave Rothstadt, Jon Bershad, and Andy Wolf. All three proved to be naturally talented actors with impressive comedic timing. They had come to the right theater troupe, that was clear. More importantly, despite their talents, they were never haughty or obnoxious — I was amazed at how humble and normal these three talents were. I was more of a background character, doing filmwork on the side and incorporating a lot of CAP actors into my projects, so my relationship with all of them was basically relegated to party time drinking and socializing.
Dave, the mastermind of Zipperface, in particular, was a kindred spirit. We both want(ed) our names in lights, want(ed) to make movies, and, well, both secretly and obnoxiously knew we had talent. One night, a bunch of us headed to Dave’s dorm to watch a $1 DVD he’d picked up, a slasher D flick called Zipperface that he told me I “had to see to believe.” Projected onto a white wall in a near empty dungeon of a dorm room, the movie was possibly the worst and best thing we’d all ever seen. A combination of despicable acting, writing, and overall filmmaking, it would make even Uwe Boll suffer projectile vomiting. But in that film spurred an idea in Dave. An idea to make a terrible play based on a terrible movie. Some years later, he would create a musical for CAP that was the best original show we’d ever put on. It blew my mind. Actually, Dave, Jon, and Andy blew my mind. It was so intelligent and engaging that it gives Spamalot a run for its money. I guess I’m also biased in the fact that I love any show that breaks the fourth wall (hence my adoration and dedication to CAP’s production of Compleat Wrks my senior and post-senior years).
So let’s say I wasn’t surprised when I heard that they’d made it into this year’s Fringe Festival. The opportunity for Zipperface!!?! to make its way into a major event like Fringe was pretty damned exciting, and I wasn’t even involved in the show. I guess you could say it was like watching your kids win an award or hit a home run in little league or something; I’d watched these guys come into their own on the theater and arts scene at Rutgers the same way my predecessors had with me. Granted, I’d never written a play, only an awful full-length feature strife with casting couches and pedantic writing (let’s just say I don’t like to direct what I write anymore — well, except for when I have the opportunity to have Dave ask questions like “Did you know Walt Whitman was gay?”)
And the reason I can’t call this a review is because I always knew they’d knock it out of the park. Whoa, getting carried away with my baseball metaphors here. Anyway, to make a quick synopsis, Zipperface!!?! The Hobo Musical is a show narrated by a vagabond named Franklin (played by Dave, no less) who expands upon the shitfest of a film, a story that is fairly basic — a gimp-dressed slasher goes all around town nixing hookers and only one detective, New Brunswick’s own Lisa Rider, can defeat him. The guessing game on who is Zipperface or why he is motivated to kill is fairly unimportant and irrelevant. What is important is the ride. Songs like “What Are We Gonna Do (With All These Dead Prostitutes” and “Let’s Put on a Terrible Play” probably convey what we’re working with here. Part musical, part faux-horror film, and whole hilarity. It’s impeccably cast, wonderfully choreographed, and the music (accompanied by an incendiary band headlined by my man, Zach “Wise-dog” Wiseley — including a saw violin and an accordion) is insanely catchy.
Sadly, it’s late in the game for you to run and see this show — it’s already sold out at least three of its shows (tickets that are left are here). But, mark my words, the show will be back, somewhere, sometime; that I am sure of. To many who don’t know the history of this show, it may seem like a goofy romp, but to be perfectly honest, the complexity involved in adapting such an event (yes, EVENT) continues to baffle me. Go ahead, rent any Dolph Lundgren film from 1988 to present and tell me if you can make it into a musical. Okay, maybe Silent Trigger could be the next Hello Dolly.
Anyway, my sincerest congratulations to the cast and crew of Zipperface!!?! The Hobo Musical, and most importantly, my thanks. It is a sheer pleasure to watch this show every time, and incredibly hard to shake the songs out of my head. Let’s just say “The Ballad of Cop #2” keeps getting sung on the E train by, ahem, some schmo.
So if you get a chance, see Zipperface. And remember, DAVE MADE IT WITH HIS BRAIN!
-M
