The Mostlies in Occupy This!

In 1992, a bunch of like-minded locals came together to form “The Mostly Not Ready for Open-Stage Players.” Musical parody was the name of their game, and twenty years later, the group now known as The Mostlies is still going strong. Though I’d read about their shows for years, I’d never been. But last weekend, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary by attending our first Mostlies production.

The theme of this year’s musical comedy parody revue was Occupy This…! The three-act show included a whopping 58 numbers. No national or local topic was off limits, from goose poop and pink slime to fracking and Mayans to politics and health care. Costumes and props were minimal but used to great effect. And because it was the 20^th anniversary show, the cast also brought back a few favorite songs from years past, including the 2010 commemoration of the infamous Balloon Boy fiasco.

I’d been alerted by a friend that my husband and I would be among the youngest people there, and she was right. There were a lot of white-haired ladies and gents in the crowd, and some of the material was obviously geared toward that demographic. But we still thought the songs about AARP and senior moments were funny. All in all, there were only two numbers that I thought missed the mark. Out of fifty-eight, that’s not bad at all.

The best part was how much fun the 15 or so performers were obviously having. How they kept up their energy for two and a half hours, I’ll never know. A few of the original founders are still with the group and don’t appear to have lost any of their enthusiasm for spoofing. Everyone in the cast is so talented that I hope they keep going for another twenty years. When it comes to coping with this crazy world, I think we’re all better off laughing instead of crying. Especially in an election year. 

(I wasn't able to take pictures during the show, but there are plenty of great ones posted on The Mostlies' website.)