Puck Boys in Love: A Review of 'Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody'
May 26, 2026
Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody, which opens tonight at the Culture Club in NYC, is every bit as funny and giddily well-observed as it was when it was a staged reading at the Laurie Beechman.
The mini review: Girl.
The maxi review: Going into something like this, you expect some cringe elements. After all, Heated Rivalry just blew up a few months ago — so, how could a whole show of any real musical and/or comedic heft materialize in such a short time?
But with a book and music and lyrics by Dylan MarcAurele (2024 Jonathan Larson Grant winner), direction by Alan Kliffer (who also produces) and musical direction by Mateo Chavez Lewis (Tommy Rhodes), the show body checks all expectations.
A triumphantly creative romp, the piece has just the right amount of reverence for the source material while not being afraid to make jokes at its expense. (It helps that Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie are hilarious off-screen, making it easy to envision them adoring having the piss taken out of them.)
Jay Armstrong Johnson (On the Town) is the perfect Ilya, as when he stoically performs the side-splitting “Big Butt, Cold Heart.” It’s not the only Sondheim-winking confection in the show, which is as musical as it is comedic. Costume designer Brendan McCann has faith in our imaginations, not saddling Johnson with a comically oversized rear-piece as may have been one way to go, which allows the lyrics and Johnson’s pained expressions — one presumes the agony of having a bubblebutt is a special burden in Russia — to sell the idea.
Jimin Moon (an understudy in Sunset Blvd.) is giving an effortlessly starry performance as “adorably autistic” Shane. It’s a joy to marvel for 75 minutes at their surgically modulated charm and innocence as Shane cheerfully hears out his endorsements-horny mom and tries his best to text Ilya into common-law marriage.
Cherry Torres (Hamilton national tour) is that mom (and other characters), delivering judgment with a velvety sledgehammer and belting her numbers with Broadway skill.
I never would have conceived of writing this show with one of the series’ female fans as the narrator, but that inspired structuring allows Ryann Redmond (Titanique) to shine as she moves things along as confidently as Cabaret’s Emcee, but with bigger hair. And, among the other parts she is a fucking riot as Rose. Thanks to the script and her choices, one of the campiest parts of the original series is neatly, hysterically skewered.
That leaves Ryan Duncan to dazzle in too many roles to count, among them Ilya’s dying dad, a blowzy fan of the series, a way-too-into-it dancer in the “All the Things She Said” club scene and even Kip, expertly summoning characters across all genders and ages. As Kip, his scene partner is a surprise that I’ll leave for you to discover in the future. But suffice it to say, it’s a huge risk and wild card, one that could have slowed down the show’s pacing, but that has worked fantastically well both times I’ve seen it — with Ryan’s guidance.
Impossibly, the songs are not only Broadway-ready, they’re genuinely witty. The show’s creator caught every nuance of what makes Heated Rivalry so popular and every aspect that is a li’l silly, plus making use of the media hoopla surrounding the HBO Max sensation.
Even Connor Storrie’s YouTube past has a cameo, and that’s the only part of this parody I could envision him not appreciating. But not necessarily. Who knows, but he and Hudson Williams and everyone else has until Labor Day to catch it off-Broadway.
I went from being a guy with zero expectations to one with zero reservations. I have to tell you that this feels like the next Titanique — with no dead ice and no icebergs in sight. ⚡️
Somebody called Heated Rivalry "A Zamboni Named Desire." I love it!