PUCK BUNNIES
AND POWER PLAYS

Knowing exactly who it’s playing to,
this gleefully ridiculous send-up
shoots and scores

There are fandoms, and then there are fandoms. The kind that inspires message boards, fan fiction, watch parties, and now, apparently, full-blown musical theater parodies. Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody understands exactly who its audience is, why they’re here, and delivers 85 minutes designed specifically to tide everyone over until spring 2027, when the second season of Heated Rivalry is scheduled to arrive. The enthusiastic audience was made up of more than a gay crowd-pleasing majority. Equally in attendance were straight women fans who clearly enjoy watching two attractive men be affectionate with one another—and, yes, “get it on.”

Book, music, and lyrics by Dylan MarcAurele are consistently sharp and knowingly embellished. The evening begins with three women—all named Susan—serving as a fangirl Greek chorus, narrating the madness while speaking to the audience as though we, too, are all Susans. It’s a running bit that lands repeatedly, especially because the crowd seems delighted to be included as a superfan. MarcAurele peppers the script with references and dialogue lifted from the original series while amplifying everything into gleeful exaggeration and unexpected turns.

While the music is totally legit, the lyrics are on par with the high jinks of all the Forbidden Broadway successes. The song titles alone are laugh-out-loud funny: “Shane Hollander Slap That Stick!,” “Big Ass, Cold Heart,” “This Fuck Was Different,” “We Didn’t Even Kiss,” “I Can Host,” and “What We Want.” The recurring jokes involving Ilya’s legendary bubble butt become the evening’s biggest laugh generator, culminating in a visual payoff that rewards audience members (who don’t blink) in the very last second before the final blackout.

Directed by Alan Kliffer, the production embraces its scrappy downtown aesthetic with confidence. Performed in a makeshift sixth-floor theater space in the former home of The McKittrick Hotel—where Sleep No More ran for fourteen years—the show leans fully into its “poor man’s theater” charm. Folding chairs for the audience are mostly on one level, which creates challenging sight lines, particularly since much of the action is staged along what would traditionally be the apron. Audience members seated toward the front sides frequently miss visual gags happening across the stage. Still, Kliffer keeps the pacing moving at a nice clip and smartly ensures every comic element belongs within the same heightened universe.

The production’s aesthetic is elevated considerably by Sully Ross’s delightfully inventive cardboard-inspired scenery, which fits the parody’s homemade spirit perfectly. The show frequently recalls the early downtown days of Titaníque before that phenomenon transferred to a larger Off-Broadway venue and, eventually, Broadway. Heated Rivalry has similar cult-hit energy and could very easily make the leap to a larger Off-Broadway house itself—and deservedly so.

That Titanique comparison becomes even more apt with the casting of former cast members Ryan Duncan and Ryann Redmond, both masters of rapid-fire comic role-switching. Duncan, also remembered fondly from Altar Boyz, tears through an outrageous collection of characters, including Susan, Hayden, Ilya’s father, Wanda the gym lady, Kip, a beautiful girl in a bar named Mykhaylahh, a nurse, and even a sports fan. Redmond and Cherry Torres match him, constantly ricocheting between characters with astonishing stamina. Assisted enormously by Brendan McCann’s intentionally terrible wigs and lightning-fast costume changes, the trio emerges as one of the hardest-working ensembles currently performing in New York.

Jay Armstrong Johnson, as the brooding Ilya Rozanov, captures Connor Storrie perfectly, face mole and all. When he speaks Russian, it’s just a hodgepodge of Russian words strewn together: “Perestroika vodka babushka, Ekaterina Gordeeva borscht gulag Dostoevsky intelligentsia, Balalaika Tolstoy Bolshevik Tatiana Maslany.” Jimin Moon, as Shane Hollander, plays up his naiveté and confusion with childlike innocence, far more outgoing and expressive than Hudson Williams. Both Johnson and Moon resemble Storrie and Williams in their handsome looks and perfect torsos.

Devin Cameron’s lighting keeps pace with the production’s relentless energy, bringing surprising visual variety to the tiny playing space. Meanwhile, musical director Mateo Chavez Lewis oversees five genuinely excellent vocalists, all sounding polished and flawless while singing along to recorded tracks without the support of a conductor.

The choreography by Brooke Engen and Tiffany Engen remains appropriately light and playful, working within the confines of the limited stage space while adding to the show’s momentum and amusement.

Thoroughly enjoyable, knowingly silly, and affectionate without becoming smug, Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody understands precisely what fandom wants from a send-up like this. It’s the rare parody that celebrates its source material while also roasting it with love—and for devotees counting the days until the spring of 2027, that may be exactly what the doctor ordered.

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photos by Matthew Murphy

Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody
6th Floor Theater at The Culture Club (formerly The McKittrick Hotel)
530 W. 27th St. in New York City
85 minutes, no intermission
ends September 7, 2026
for tickets, visit Heated Rivalry Parody

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