Review: George Salazar & Joe Iconis: TWO-PLAYER GAME Proves 2 Hands Are Better Than One At Feinstein's/54 Below

Heigh-Ho Friends & "Family"! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in CABARET to bring you all the T...

Well, my little rainbow groupies... Last night Feinstein's/54 Below found itself in need of repairs. The cause of all the damage was a little 2 handed club act fittingly called; TWO-PLAYER GAME. The dynamic duo in question, Joe Iconis and his good buddy George Salazar, in the vernacular of "the biz," tore the roof off the joint. These long-time pals and denizens of barrooms, tea rooms, and rehearsal rooms got to step up to THE STREET in '19 with their little musical that could, BE MORE CHILL. A show that, quite frankly, left moi a bit cold but that had a cult following that followed it all the way from New Jersey, no less. Then it landed at Pershing Square for an Off-Bway run in '17, and that was supposed to be that...WRONG! Owing to a massive online following of the show's cast album, this modern-day, twisted Alice On Acid In Wonderland got to chill on the Broadway for 200-ish performances, cementing their place in the hearts and minds of the Swifties and the Grandes (that's Taylor & Arianna to anyone born pre-2000) that fueled the fan wave that washed BMC up onto the great white way.

Opening the show with a medley of Joe's HIT, Broadway Here I Come, the pair were off to the races with an exuberantly appreciative, albeit 80% capacity audience. So effusive were they right out of the gate, that J&G stopped to marvel at the response of a room that, on a Tuesday, they were expecting to be the equivalent of a blue hair matinee. Salazar's ability to capture both the warmth and the desperation woven into Iconis' music truly had yours truly marveling at this wonderful singing actor's chops. So much so, that the two numbers from Be More Chill, in GS's hands (& voice) landed in ways much more meaningful than they did in the actual show. With Iconis rocking, swaying, dipping, and stomping behind the piano like some child of Van Cliburn and Jerry Lee Lewis, the friends, whose chemistry is palpable, worked up the room, working their way through 10 Iconis compositions; all of them 3 act plays unto themselves. Two of the standouts were standalone numbers titled Lisa and Vagabond that showed it would take a partnership like the one these two share to find the guts within the tunes. Singing aside, the duo's between the notes patter was as on point as Abbott & Costello, taking turns with setups and punchlines that kept the room completely on their side comedically with nary a ball dropped in their juggling act.

Sweet, funny, and adorable Salazar in his shorts, button-down shirt, rumpled jacket, two-tone black with arctic blonde tips due and his out, and proud vibes gave all the lovely rainbow feels for pride, while his number 1 straight ally, was sleek, dark, and handsome in suit and tie at the grand piano. In short, they were eye-candy on stage right AND left. But giving them the eyes was nothing compared to lending them our ears as they wrapped the show with music from the new Joe Iconis musical about Hunter S. Thompson (Whaaaaaaaat?) You read that right... Joe's newest work for the stage will center around the hard-drinking, hard-drugging sharp penned wordsmith of the late '60s & early '70s. One COULD wonder how anyone might make musical meat out of that weed-infused subject matter, so what you can do is, take the last two opportunities to see George Salazar & Joe Iconis: TWO-PLAYER GAME At Feinstein's/54 Below tonight and tomorrow night because this rainbow reviewer gives this one a full...

5 out Of 5 Rainbows - a great show for your pride celebrations.

Reserve Your Tickets: HERE

George S. Spins His Webby: HERE

Flashes His YouTubes: HERE (Catch his Sundays On The Couch With George Show)

Posts His Insta-Pictograms: HERE

And Twitters With His Tweets: HERE

Joe I. Has A Webbysite: HERE

Follow his InstaG: HERE

Tweet His Twitters: HERE

And Followe On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

All Photos by Yours Truly, Bobby Patrick

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