Professional hockey rivals Ilya Rozanov (Jay Armstrong Johnson, left) and Shane Hollander (Jimin Moon) find themselves attracted to each other in Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody.
Send-ups of television series have become a cottage industry in New York theater, but they usually target familiar, long-established properties. Dylan MarcAurele’s Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody arrives barely six months after HBO Max premiered Heated Rivalry, a hit drama about rival hockey players who become lovers. Under Alan Kliffer’s direction, the result is fresh and bawdy, and sung with serious voices by a talented cast, all of whom help with scene changes that boost the production’s sketch-comedy vibe.
Cherry Torres (left) and Ryan Duncan play smoothie shop employees Maria and Kip, who are rabid fans of ice hockey.
The hockey players are a Canadian star, Shane Hollander (Jimin Moon), who is projected to be the No. 1 draft pick, and a chilly Russian, Ilya Kozanov (Jay Armstrong Johnson), who upstages him in a crucial match and takes over the first spot. A classic sportsman, Shane tries to shake Ilya’s hand after he loses, but the Russian ignores him, which only increases Shane’s attraction. MarcAurele also pays homage to elements from the HBO series—Ilya’s sturdy derrière and smoking habit, and Shane’s insecurity.
The show opens on three Heated Rivalry aficionados, named Main Susan, SM Susan (for Susan’s Mom), and ID Susan (for Ilya’s Dad). Although they form a framing chorus of “Wine Moms,” the actors—Ryann Redmond, Cherry Torres and Ryan Duncan, respectively—also step into characters in the story. They introduce the action with a song, “What Women Want,” that puts a comic spin on the runaway popularity of the sex-drenched phenomenon:
Good sportsman Shane attempts to congratulate his rival, the granite-faced Russian hockey star Ilya, who has an unathletic smoking habit.
Hockey. Players. With big butts.
Having. Sex. In their beds.
On the couch. In their homes.
Also in hotels. That’s what women want.
Both closeted athletes have family issues. Shane’s mother (Cherry Torres) is also his overbearing manager, but Shane is oblivious to her harshness:
My mom’s my best supporter
She cheers me on with pride
She comes up with fun games like
When I lose I sleep outside.
Ilya’s ailing Communist father (Ryan Duncan), meanwhile, suffers from dementia and belittles his son’s playing for the West (Boston). When he coughs up blood, Ilya wryly notes, “Father, your dementia. It is spreading.”
Musical theater fans will catch a slew of quick-shot references to other shows—Rent, Hamilton, My Fair Lady, and a Cole Porter classic. (The show’s last moment is a nod to The Full Monty.) MarcAurele also tosses off canny digs at TV series like Hulu’s All’s Fair and recent films like West Side Story.
“All the actors handle the many double entendres with aplomb. ”
There is also a sequence of interactivity, as Redmond’s Main Susan corrals an audience member to read the part of a hockey player named Scott Hunter, the object of adoration for a smoothie waiter and hockey aficionado named Kip Grady (Duncan). At the performance under review, it was a guy named Izquierdo, in his late 30s, wearing a sheer top that revealed hours of gym work. He was given a script to read, and he endured Kip’s lascivious glances with amused grace.
All the actors handle the many double entendres with aplomb. Both leads are credible as buff athletes, and Moon’s puppy-dog longing is endearing. “How can I convince Ilya to use / Me as a trampoline?” he wonders. While the men are on the road with their teams, Ilya teaches Shane to sext in a dryly suggestive scene:
Redmond and Moon sing a duet in the “unauthorized parody” of HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry. Photographs by Matthew Murphy.
Ilya: Must be playful and creative! Like, “Hollander, I want a taste of your Canada Dry.”
Shane: I want you inside me like a Russian nesting doll?
Ilya: I’ve got something I want to poutine you!
Vocally, both men are superb. Although Johnson is a reliable veteran of Broadway (On the Town, Parade) and Off (Darling Grenadine, Working), and has even starred in Candide at the New York City Opera, Moon, who has been in Sunset Blvd. and Lempicka, holds his own in songs that show Shane’s progress from naïf to horndog.
The double entendres are fast and furious, often in the choral parts, which comment on Shane’s coming-out journey:
From left, Cherry Torres, Ryann Redmond, and Ryan Duncan, the chorus of Wine Moms, who are all named Susan and who all take on many subsidiary roles.
Oh my god, it’s sad to see
He’s swallowed by this rivalry
Wish there was some remedy
To loosen up this rivalry
Can this spiteful storm be weathered?
Might they learn to come together?
We pray that one day they’ll be free
From this heated rivalry.
MarcAurele’s score is tuneful, ranging from tongue-in-cheek numbers like “Big Ass, Cold Heart,” describing Ilya, to Shane’s improbably tender “This Fuck Was Different.” What might have been a disposable parody turns out to be a fetching and consistently lively one, boosted by strong performances, catchy songs, and an affection for its source material that never dulls the jokes. The producers’ confidence in its appeal beyond Pride Month seems well founded.
Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody plays through Sept. 7 at the Culture Club, (530 W. 27th St.). Evening performances are generally at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and at 5 and 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, but there are irregularities. For tickets and specific times, visit heatedrivalryparody.com.
Book, Music, Lyrics & Orchestrations: Dylan MarcAurele
Direction: Alan Kliffer
Choreography: Brooke & Tiffany Engen
Scenic Design: Sully Ross
Costume Design: Brendan McCann
Lighting Design: Devin Cameron
Sound Design: Germán Martinez
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