If you’re a fan of Jimmy Buffett’s 1977 hit “Margaritaville,” you’ll love Escape To Margaritaville, the hit musical that turns many of Buffet’s famous tracks into a hilarious and fun island adventure.
This past weekend the musical made its way to The Fabulous Fox where it entertained audiences all weekend long. It tells the story of Tully (Chris Clark), a singer at the island resort bar who is a bit of a womanizer, meeting vacationing women who are new to the island then leaving them when the week is over. That is until Rachel (Sarah Hinrichsen) arrives with her best friend Tammy in tow. Tammy is getting married back in Cincinnati at the end of the week and this vacation is their one last hurrah before she becomes a married woman. Tully starts out with his usual tricks, but quickly learns they don’t work on Rachel the same way they did the others.
Some of the songs in the musical include “Margaritaville,” “Cheeseburger In Paradise,” and the infamous “Why Don’t We Get Drunk.” The cast made the title song come to life with lively characters and an extremely colorful and tropical set. Clark and Hinrichsen are so believable as Tully and Rachel and the set so beautiful you’ll wish you were there. There are several interactive points throughout the play that make you smile and laugh. It’s a great time that will make you start dreaming of planning your own tropical vacation.
The set changes are not only creative, but also humorous. During the scene where the two main characters go out snorkeling together, extras waved blue material across the front of the stage so as to imitate waves while the actors in scuba gear were rolled across the stage on carts behind it to look like they were swimming across. It was so obvious the whole audience laughed so hard some were in tears.
Even though I was familiar with the title song, I was not familiar with the musical. I went into The Fabulous Fox with high hopes and was definitely not let down. | Jennifer Manjarez
