This fairly unknown musical by Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet made its debut in 2010 in DC at the Capital Fringe Festival and later won six awards at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. It is a parody of the video game, Super Mario Bros, featuring two brothers, Claudio and Luis, who go on a quest to rescue Princess Poinsettia from the evil Bruiser's dungeon, getting some unexpected help from Princess Fish along the way.
The unique and creative characters each stood out with their bold make-up, colorful costumes, and distinct voices. Every member of the ensemble was present at all times and never hesitated to steal their moment as a dancing eggplant or have a full conversation with a wooden dinosaur. The bouncy sound effects and animated jumps encapsulated the video game aesthetic, and each character's precise movement tied the show together.
In particular, Fish, played by Miranda Simpson, was a bubbly, mustache-wearing feminist dressed in yellow, and Simpson brought the energy to the stage with her enthusiastic, spontaneous character. Supported by her love interest, Luis, played by Nathan Bass, the two of them conquered any obstacle along the way that attempted to separate them.
Other notable characters that stood out include the angry and emotional Bruiser, played by Idil Erdogan, whose comedic jokes and unrequited love story demanded attention in "Platypus Heart". Erdogan got help from Elgafink, played by Franny Hemsley, her hilarious therapist with a New York accent, whose advice not to kill people was greatly ignored. Audrey Link, who played Poinsettia, the overdramatic, operatic princess, showed off her large vocal range when she sang "Poor Poor Me," while being pampered with tea and rose petals in a prison tower.
The entire show would not have come together without the impressive costumes, make-up, and set that immersed the audience in a video game. The costume team of Izzy Boon, Anushka Parashar, Jane Shanks, and Kyra Taube designed each character to have their own bold color that made them stand out and fully covered them from head to toe. From Poinsettia's cartoonishly crisp ball gown to Luis and Claudio's jumpsuits with matching Converses, each costume reflected the character. This goes the same for the make-up, done by Emery Graninger, Addie Harris, Maia Le, and Valentina Sedan, which matched the color for each character with graphic lines, sharp angles, and exquisite mustaches. Lastly, the sets, created by MHS set decoration, and MHS paint crews, pictured the world of Claudio Quest with the teenager's bedroom off to the side to show the parallels between the kids playing the game and the game characters themselves, allowing the small details within the painting and video game screens to tie the whole story together.
The bouncy characters and vibrant technical designs transformed Mclean High School's black box theater into a teenage boy's video game, through a heartwarming story of people testing societal norms and becoming themselves in Claudio Quest.