Review: THE SKIVVIES: LITTLE SHOP OF ROCKY HORRORS Pulls Out All the Stops at 54 Below

The first live show I saw when clubs started to reopen after 14 months was The Skivvies at The Green Room 42. There was no food or drinks, the house was socially distanced at 30% capacity and everyone in the room was masked up. What a difference a couple of months makes! Last night I caught up with The Skivvies again in the fully functioning, sold-to-the rafters, vaxxed and unmasked luxury of Feinstein's 54 Below. What hadn't changed was the joy and energy that came off the stage.

For those of you who haven't seen The Skivvies yet, they are Lauren Molina (Sweeney Todd, Rock of Ages, Marry Me a Little) and Nick Cearley (1st National All Shook Up, Sex Tips for Women From a Gay Man.) They are known for their wonderful arrangements of pop songs, show tunes, parodies, and mash-ups. The hook of the group is they do it all only in their fanciest underwear. They play a battery of instruments between them. Big voices and crazy harmonies....but no pants.

Last year The Skivvies released their first album, The Rocky Horror Skivvies Show. Molina and Cearley played Brad and Janet in The Rocky Horror Show at Bucks County Playhouse a few years back. They performed songs from that album last night, but in true Skivvies fashion, it was a mash-up. LITTLE SHOP OF ROCKY HORRORS matched up The Rocky Horror Show and Little Shop of Horrors and threw in a little Hamilton, most of the Alan Menken catalog, and a bit of David Bowie just for flavor. The two shows share a common otherworldly campiness and Brad and Janet are just slightly more innocent versions of Seymour and Audrey, so the whole thing seems comfortably inevitable.

As with any Skivvies show, there were guest stars. Juson Williams (JW's Inspirational Singers) made a delightful Audrey 2 singing a medley of "Feed Me" combined with a half dozen other songs about being hungry in one way or another. Diana Huey (1st national Little Mermaid, Miss Saigon,) no stranger to Alan Menken, mashed-up "Somewhere That's Green" and "Part of Your World dressed only in a strategically draped bath towel. She came back later to rock out on "The Time Warp." Tamika Sonja Lawrence (Come from Away) ripped it up singing "Downtown" and later, "Don't Dream It." She will be seen upstairs at Studio 54 later this year when Caroline or Change returns to Broadway.

As for Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley, they are more talented and more charming than should be legally permitted. They gave us nearly a dozen beautifully sung, beautifully played, beautifully arranged pieces from these two shows. My favorite was the rarely heard "We'll Have Tomorrow" that was cut from Little Shop of Horrors. I was also captivated by their version of "Life on Mars." They were joined by pianist Nate Hopkins on "Superheroes" from The Rocky Horror Show. The three of them harmonized gloriously.

Molina and Cearley were supported by a fantastic band of Nate Hopkins, Debbie Tjong, Josh Roberts, and Andrew Gutauskas. It was particularly entertaining to watch Gutauskas switch between half a dozen reed instruments and slide whistles. The band was just the icing on top of an already sweet and wonderful cake. If you haven't seen The Skivvies, don't wait! I am now a devoted fan.

It is worth noting that the excitement of The Skivvies show was amped up even more by the presence of Alan Menken, himself in the audience.

For more information on The Skivvies, check out theskivviesnyc.com. You can also purchase their album, The Rocky Horror Skivvies Show there. To see other great acts at 54 Below, visit 54below.com.

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