Based on the Apple TV Plus series first season, with book, music and lyrics by Cinco Paul, Schmigadoon is a celebratory spoof of iconic musicals of the 1940s-1950s. With clever twerks of plot, characters, musical phrasing, and acrobatic, balletic dancing from these Golden Age musicals, and a lot of original overlay, this heavenly production, directed by Christopher Gattelli, is where it belongs, Broadway’s the Nederlander Theater. Currently, the world premiere of Schmigadoon! is spreading its joy with an end date through Sept. 6, 2026.

Topped off with fanciful, colorful 1918 (The Music Man) period costuming by Linda Cho, whimsical scenic designs of a magical forest, a Schmigadoon town square surrounded by the beautiful facades of Victorian houses, a carnival barker’s Tunnel of Love ride (Carousel) and more by Scott Pask, one’s spirits are uplifted. We don’t want Josh Skinner (Tony award nominee for Beetlejuice, Alex Brightman) and Melissa Gimble (Sara Chase, The Great Gatsby) to leave the fairy-tale “take-off” of Brigadoon. This is especially so after enjoying the introductory song “Schmigadoon,” meeting the wacky town characters, hearing the vibrant chorus, “wowing at” the set and costumes, and experiencing the apparent peace and happiness Mayor Menlove (Brad Oscar) promises. And then there’s the gorgeous carney Danny Bailey (Max Clayton), who comes on to Melissa in “You Can’t Tame Me,” later that evening, reminiscent of Billy Bigelow in Carousel (1945). Well, well.

Alex Brightman’s orthopedic surgeon Josh is believable as the typical, unromantic, scruffy-bearded male who can’t dance, won’t sing and dislikes musicals where folks sing and dance for no logical reason. He prefers reality and sports to fantasy and “magic” which run counter to his scientific mind.(His type is a spoof in itself.) Sara Chase’s pediatrician is perfect as his opposite. Not only does she deliver babies (the union of love) she’s a romantic who loves musicals. Despite Josh’s dislike, she attempts to share her enjoyment of dancing, singing and romance by making Josh sit through the 1952 film of the most realistic, integrated musical of them all, Singing in the Rain. But she fails to convince Josh musicals are important precisely for the reasons Josh finds them odious. You need a break from reality now and then and love, passion, romance, poetry, singing and dancing provide a welcome respite from the stress and angst of daily pressures, don’t you.? Josh doesn’t buy it, yet.

So when their wanderings in the forest, arguing about Josh not dancing with her at a couple’s retreat, land them in the anachronistic Schmigadoon, Josh is beside himself when the band strikes notes for a song and dance number. He is also pissed that the innkeeper prodded by Ana Gayster’s Mildred Layton forbids Josh to room with Melissa because it’s not respectable in 1918. Only with marriage are “relations” permitted. That and no Wi Fi pings Josh to a fever pitch saying, “I hate this place,” as he pushes Melissa to leave after the waitress and townspeople sing about the delicious “Corn Pudding” for breakfast. A problem arises when Melissa joins in a verse of melody she finds easy to sing as if she belongs there with the chorus which is strange and wierds out Josh who must get home ASAP.

He especially is thrilled to go over the bridge from fantasy into reality, except that’s not happening. Every time they try, it turns them back to Schmigadoon. After their umpteenth time, they question the universe about this anomaly. A Leprechaun appears. He sings that they can only leave if they’ve found their true love. “But ’til ye’ve found it ye must stay, where life’s a musical every day!” Both Josh and Melissa are stunned at seeing the mythic figure. Using his scientific mind and deductive powers of reasoning, Josh concludes that they can’t be each other’s true love. This is particularly concerning when they test the magic by saying they love each other, but still are returned to Schmigadoon.

As they argue now about what true love is, enter the townspeople who moderate their fight in “Lover’s Spat,” then lead them back to Schmigadon because they are homeless and have nowhere else to go. With the motivation to return home, they split up and go on the hunt to find their “true love” since Josh is convinced that their coupling isn’t “true love.” For a man used to employing the scientific method, Josh misses the cognitive dissonance of his actions to find his true love in a fairy-tale musical, but we have a good laugh at his expense..

During twists and turns of adventure and song, more musicals are represented. Josh ends up with Betsy (McKenzie Kurtz) at the point of her father, Farmer McDonough’s, shotgun. But he is saved and falls for Emma Tate (the golden-voiced Isabelle McCalla). The schoolteacher with her brother Carson (Ayaan Diop) providing the latest town intel, ping character twists from The Music Man providing the romance for Josh in the hope that Emma is his true love to bring him home.

For her part Melissa establishes a bond with carney Danny Bailey (Max Carter is wonderful) which blows up when he shoots himself with his own gun unwittingly during a “robbery” to get money for their baby, though Melissa is not pregnant (a send up of Billy Bigelow in Carousel). But she does fall for Doc (Ivan Hernandez) who is older and a stern type like Colonel Von Trapp from The Sound of Music. She even gets to provide an instructive lesson in female anatomy to a pregnantt out of wedlock couple in “Baby Talk” that follows the tune of “Do, Re, Me,.” The scene is riotous.

This mayhem is brought to another level by Gaysteyer’s Mildred Layton with her anti-DEI campaign to remove self-outing, gay, Mayer Menlove, (Brad Oscar brings down the house with his reveal). “Tribulation” reminiscent of the “Ye Got Trouble” in The Music Man sends the production is “off the charts” LOL. But the truth unfolds eventually and Josh and Melissa’s enlightened “modern” energy bring renewal to the antiquated town’s old-fashioned ideas about love and sex. Positive changes and evolutions occur and with these interactions, Josh and Melissa are changed through wisdom they learn and share.

Paul’s tweaks to the musicals reveal his admiration and reverence for one of this country’s finest contributions to the arts historically, the American musical. The enthusiasm of the principals, the authenticity inhabiting their portrayals allows the audience to empathize because the characters are not superficially drawn or cartoonish. This is especially true of Alex Brightman’s Josh at the conclusion in his astounding moment of realization where reality and romance and hope merge in his soul. At that moment Brightman reaches an apex, proving that serious moments can convey theme with beauty in a hilarious production. It is all a matter of superbly balanced tone and meaning which Paul and Gattelli achieve in this memorable musical of musicals.

Schmigadoon! runs 2 hours 30 minutes with one intermission at the Nederlander Theater through September 6, 2026 schmigadoonbroadway.com.