Still More Theater Saturday - Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody

We were given complimentary tickets to Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody

Where: The Theater Center
             210 W. 50th St.
             New York, NY

When: Through Sunday, January 2, 2022

Love Actually ? The Authorized Musical Parody first played at the Theater Center in New York City in December of 2019. Parts of the below review were initially published at that time. It has been edited as necessary.

Me - Love Actually? was a surprisingly good show. Love Actually is one of my favorite Christmas movies so I was a little nervous about how they were going to handle a spoof. However, it ended up being really enjoyable. The jokes were funny without being mean. The singing and acting were great. The characterizations were pretty accurate. The spoof managed to take the most notable aspects of the film and condense them into just one act without making it seem that anything was missing. If you are a fan of Love Actually, I would highly recommend seeing this show.

Mom - Love Actually the movie is a really sweet and romantic movie. Love Actually? The Unauthorized Parody has some sweetness to it as well, but it is mostly a very funny spot-on parody that makes fun of the movie in a loving way. Everything you could want from the movie appears here plus a little bit extra that will please fans of an extremely popular movie franchise. 

The performances are all very good. Many of the actors appeared in the original production of the show that ran back in December 2019 and those actors that did not appear in that production fit seamlessly into the show.  The songs are funny especially one about Hugh Grant (the characters are called by the names of the actors here and the actors are parodied along with the movie). Some of the songs are even a little bit touching especially the song sung by the character in love with his best friend's wife. 

This show like the actual movie is definitely not for children especially one particular story line. Also, if you haven't seen the movie, although you may still enjoy parts of the show,  you most likely won't get as much enjoyment out of  it as you would have if you had seen the movie. So if you've seen the movie, go see this show. If you haven't seen the movie, see it first, and then see this show.  In any case, this show is definitely worth seeing. It's a really holiday treat.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for this week's Sunday Scoop.

Photo credits: All Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody original production photos by Jeremy Daniel