Songs from Broadway duds take center stage
Every theater fan remembers a musical that closed early or got mauled by critics or simply never found its audience yet somehow left behind a handful of songs too good to disappear with it. That conundrum is the premise behind an upcoming cabaret-style show at Newmarket Millspace.
Bangers From Bad Musicals is the brainchild of actress Karissa Vincent, who cited Wonderland, a Lewis Carroll-inspired 2011 flop, as an example of the genre. She loved it as a kid, even if it didn’t last more than a month.
“The book is absolute trash,” Vincent allowed in a recent phone interview. “But the music is so good.”
Defining a bad musical is subjective, so Vincent drew a few lines to select songs for the performance. Shows needed to be reasonably well-known, so no workshop productions, and jukebox musicals like Escape From Margaritaville and Rock of Ages were nixed. “Because,” she said, “that comes down to whether you like the music.”
Divisive shows like Chess and Cats were handled a bit differently, and selections from each appear in Bangers.
“Both are highly snubbed but also highly regarded,” Vincent said. “You’ll see songs from them at the cabaret because there’s a reason for them to be there … not necessarily because the show was bad.”
Other certified bad-but-beloved musical selections included in Bangers come from Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, The Last Ship, Love Never Dies and Starlight Express. The show will also feature a sneak preview from Carrie, a Millspace and Jonesing for Theater Company co-production coming in October.
The musical version of Stephen King’s horror classic has been redeemed, and Vincent looks forward to the 2.0 version.
“The original, like the ‘80s Carrie, was very bad,” she said. “The songs were great, the show was trash, it was an awful time. The new Carrie … is not bad, it is a great show, a lot of fun.”
Vincent has traveled to New York frequently for work or just to see theater, and has strong opinions on the genre’s more controversial entries. She thinks Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 2023 flop Bad Cinderella was unfairly maligned. “If you go in thinking it’s serious, like most Webber shows are, you’ll hate it. But if you go in looking for a comedy, it’s great.”
Based in the town’s Old Mill building, Newmarket Millspace regularly opens its cabaret nights to performers from across the Seacoast and beyond; Bangers is among those. Around 15 performers had submitted songs at the time of Vincent’s interview, drawing from groups like Jonesing for Theater, RGC and Dive-In.
“It is typically Seacoast performers,” Vincent said. “So people hailing from Portsmouth, Newmarket, Dover, Durham, like that kind of area for the most part, and some are from Maine as well.” The lineup will mix solos, duets and group numbers so everyone gets a featured moment without running the show too long.
As for what actually counts as a banger, Vincent said it’s a broader definition than pure energy. Lea Michele’s “Nobody’s Side” from Chess and the title number from Bad Cinderella are high-octane examples, but the night will have numbers that are more restrained. Though in her view, all of them are powerful.
Put simply, though, not all of these songs will be bombastic barn burners.
“One I’m singing is going to be a slower ballad,” Vincent said. “It’s from a bad musical, and it’s going to fit into that banger description — because it’s a beautiful song. But it’s not fast-paced.”
Audiences can expect a full bar, snacks and an intermission, with pianist Tim Goss accompanying performers and Vincent serving as host throughout the night.
For Vincent, the big appeal is the chance to give overlooked gems a second life outside the shows that buried them.
“There are a lot of great songs that have been lost in mediocre productions,” she said. “This is a good way to pull those out and to make people aware they’re good, even though the place they came from wasn’t that great.”
Bangers From Bad Musicals
When: Saturday, Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Newmarket Millspace, 55 Main St., Newmarket
Tickets: $15, portsmouthnhtickets.com