MUSICAL THEATER TAKES ON KIM KARDASHIAN, AND NOTORIOUS DEATH CULT: ISIS!

This new musical recently opened at the People’s Improv Theatre, and has no qualms about tackling hot-button issues like terrorism, fearmongering, America’s reality-television fixation, and America’s first family (that isn’t the Obamas).

Photo by Wade Jennings; Design by Lauren D'Archangelis

Photo by Lauren D'Archangelis

The story opens on a Kardashian-esque family at the peak of their fame, king of the mid-2000's reality TV scene. After a mysterious feud causes the family to walk away from the show, producer Trevor Beach is ruined. Ten years later, he's still furious with the Blaines, and wants to find out when they all left him high and dry. Upon flipping through cable news, and seeing the fiery, terror-inducing rhetoric of right-wing pundits, he's inspired to cook up a scheme to use some terror in order to learn why the Blaines split up so many years ago.

Photo by Lauren D'Archangelis

With the help of a hapless sidekick, the producer gathers the family for a "one-night only" reunion special. Once they're present, he simulates an attack by the terrorist organization ISIS, using cheap sound effects and bad costumes, which prove to work even better than he could have hoped. Between a mute half-brother, a reformed druggie turned sister-wife, and a testosterone-filled father with a fixation on killing endangered animals, Trevor Beach soon finds himself in over his head trying to deal with the characters that are the Blaines - and when the truth finally does come out, it's just as shocking as the premise.

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Blatantly Blaine manages to shock and appall left and right, but plenty of shows are capable of gross-out comedy. This show succeeds in the heart and smarts it brings to the Kardashians. This isn't a lazy parody populated with easy references to the show - it makes us take a step back and really think about why America needs reality television, and the increasingly thin line between our entertainment and our politics. If you'd like a tight ninety minutes of non-stop laughter, with plenty to leave you thinking about upon leaving the theatre, with a side of mild nudity, Blatantly Blaine is for you.