“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” is a classic movie musical from the 1950s about seven brothers who all want a wife, it’s right there in the title. Modern cinephiles have called the musical an “outdated” and “misogynistic” film that “hasn’t aged well.” That is a bit of an understatement as the story involves kidnapping the would-be wives, taking them to their cabin in the mountains and causing an avalanche so that the women will be stuck with them until spring. How romantic.
Luckily, producer and director John Henderson — along with Bryan Jager, Cody Troesch, Lidnsey D. Smith and a local team of talented performers — decided to update the story with the new original musical “7-N-7 (An Old-Fashioned Musical Reimagined).”
In “7-N-7” the Oregon mountains have been swapped out for a university, the avalanche is now a hurricane, and the seven brothers are seven members of a not-so-cool fraternity filled with legacies who enjoy role-playing games, musical theater and Pokemon. They hope to win the hearts of seven sorority sisters if they can just pull their attention away from seven super cool frat bros.
While “7-N-7” is inspired by “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (and it makes plenty of jokes at the expense of the classic musical) it has more of a “Grease”-meets-“Pitch Perfect”-meets-“Revenge of the Nerds” feel to it. The characters are the same ones you see in most 80s/90s college-set comedies but the jokes poke enough fun at the stereotypes to make it feel fresh and fun, and it is filled with enough pop culture references to keep your geek-sense tingling. A personal shout-out to Super Mario’s abs and that sweet Pikachu tank top.
The entire ensemble works well together and are genuinely enjoyable to watch. Smith’s choreography is very entertaining and the original songs by Henderson and Jager will leave you humming and toe-tapping as you leave the theater feeling #Blessed.
“7-N-7 (An Old-Fashioned Musical Reimagined)” plays in the Orange Venue through May 26. For more information visit OrlandoFringe.org.
