Cady

"The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals" (if it were Smosh)

Damien Haas as Paul

Angela Giarratana as Emma

Shayne Topp as Bill

Chanse McCrary as Ted

Courtney Miller as Charlotte

Ian Hecox as Mr. Davidson/Sam

Arasha Lalani as Greenpeace Girl/ Alice

Tommy Bowe as Professor Hidgens

(WARNING: this is 100% my opinion and if you disagree, do so politely please :)

I think that the original run of TGWDLM had this more intimate and life like quality with the warm lighting and low budget. Because of this, it was much easier to convey how abrupt and strange it was for people to start randomly singing, which added to the comedy of Paul's breakdown in act one. I think Lah Dee Dah Dah Day unfortunately suffers a bit from the budget increase strangely enough. There are bright stage lights and a huge set for people to dance on. It feels more fitting for a musical number to take place here than in the 2018 one. So when Paul walks to work confused it's less shocking and less funny.

This is such a small thing but I haven't seen anyone mention it so I will! Tie Up My Heart has of course been opted down a bit and served a more grounded performance from Jeff Blim and I am absolutely in the group that sees these as pluses. Right at the end when Sam is pretending to die to guilt Charlotte, he makes each line sound like the end of the song "My Hands are tied in knots and I can't come home"..."I wanna die in your arms in the evening glow", the joke being that every time he finishes a line Charlotte thinks he died, just for him to rise up and start singing again. This joke was completely lost on me in the original one and while it's a fairly small moment, I can definetely say this is one of the few comedic moments that was actually done better here.

In general, everyone seemed to sing a bit slower and with more diction which helped SO MUCH. That's not to say the original is incomprehensible or anything, but most notably in "Join Us (and die)" I couldn't quite understand what Charlotte was saying during the fast parts but in this version I did! (and in Lah Dee Dah Dah Day the homeless guy says "and a new trash tattoo" which was I line I never heard properly until this version)