Off-Broadway, the Main Stem comes in for a riotous ribbing in a clever, pocket-sized musical called Broadway Bounty Hunter. Combining equal parts Quentin Tarantino and Gerard Alessandrini (of Forbidden Broadway fame), the clever book by Joe Iconis (Be More Chill), Lance Rubin, and Jason Sweettooth Williams parodies schlocky tuners and violent exploitation flicks without mercy. Veteran Annie Golden (Hair, Assassins) stars as a theatrical version of herself, a stage performer of a certain age endlessly auditioning and rejected by snooty casting directors only interested in young blood.
Incredibly, she is recruited by a mysterious ninja-like woman to join a squad of bounty hunters. What follows is a wacko ride from a South American brothel back to a New York opening night of a ditzy show called “Young People: The Musical.” The inventive score by Iconis melds 1970s funk with Broadway rhythms.
Like the best “Carol Burnett Show” sketches, Bounty Hunter incisively skewers show-biz conventions. In addition to the golden Golden, the cast also includes sexy Alan H. Green as a Shaft-like hero, Brad Oscar as a deliciously villainous drug pusher-pimp-theatrical producer, and Christina Sajous as a fierce prostitute. Directed and choreographed with economic skill by Jennifer Werner, the ensemble commits to this bizarre universe with utmost seriousness making it all the funnier.
