All Hail the Great American Mixtape
The small and intimate Garner Galleria Theatre has done it again with “Second City’s American Mixtape.” With a cast of four, “American Mixtape” is a collection of short skits where no topic is safe from their hilarious scrutiny.
Cast members Randall Harr, Nicole C. Hastings, Meghan Murphy, and Travis Turner each periodically come out in between skits to tell the audience their own histories with mixed tapes. Small town introductions to Led Zeppelin, crushes on boys, and using song titles to send a message are just some of the stories these tapes have to tell.
Although the skits vary in topic, the underlying theme is the power of music and the influence it has on our lives.
The play opens with a sermon, given by Turner. But this sermon is special, it’s about telling fear “to go the f*ck away.” From there the laughs just keep coming, until audiences are clapping their hands and wiping tears from their eyes. It was a show so funny, I just didn’t want it to end.
The beauty of the Garner Galleria is that smaller shows such as this one thrive here. It allows the cast to go out into the audience and bring the show directly to you. Let’s not forget about audience participation either. With her ukulele in hand, Hastings found a couple in the audience and, after asking them a few simple questions like how they met and some hobbies they had, the cast performed a rock opera of their love story.
Since this is a show about mix tapes, we can’t leave out the soundtrack. With an eclectic blend of Ke$ha, show tunes, Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” Blondie, Chris Isaak, and much, much more, the show couldn’t have done any better in the music department. Several of the skits also include songs performed and written by the cast and crew of the show, like a song about super cuteness taking over the world.
The four cast members are the perfect cocktail of funny. The skits fit seamlessly together into a comedic masterpiece.
“Second City’s American Mixtape” will be running at the Garner Galleria Theatre until June 29. The show is 1 hour and 45 minutes long, including a 15-minute intermission.
For showtimes and to purchase tickets, visit DenverCenter.org.
