‘Sexy as hell’: filthy and hilarious Heated Rivalry parody musical comes to New York

W alking into the Culture Club in West Chelsea, New York, for a performance of Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody last week, I was met by three ghosts left over from when the space was called the McKittrick hotel and it hosted the immersive spookfest, Sleep No More . The first was the phantom of clever detail: cans of Athletic IPAs for sale, a cute, non-alcoholic nod to the mega-popular series’ hockey setting. The second was of unnerving fright, as I realized there would be no booze

Would I be able to make it through 90 minutes of jokes about an overexposed Canadian gay sports romance, with zero quality guarantee and an even lower blood alcohol concentration? At least at the downtown premiere of the popular parody Titanique, long before it proved itself worthy of a handful of Tony nominations, you could stand up and order a bucket of White Claws. But then the third specter materialized, the ghost of immersion and surrender, as this very funny production completely won me over. (I’ve since learned that a liquor license is forthcoming.) Heated Rivalry , for the uninitiated, is a television show adapted from a series of gay romance novels by Rachel Reid, a straight woman who unwittingly launched a thousand discussions about who gets to be horny over whom, how and when. Fans of the books petitioned for a wider release of the show produced for the Canadian streamer Crave, last November and, some six months later, its formerly unknown stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams are in easy contention for the most photographed people alive. Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody is the latest addition to New York City’s musical parody cottage industry, which has led me to a theater lobby where a woman in a branded hockey jersey is telling the stranger next to her that she’s seen the series “probably not as many times as you think, but still a lot”. Cherry Torres, Ryann Redmond and Ryan Duncan. Super-fans were giddy that their dreams were coming true, and the more reserved types, perhaps blushing at what they deemed beneath them, were still clearly enjoying themselves. I liked the TV show just fine, a bit underwhelmed at what was broadly discussed as “softcore smut” but felt more in line with the twee “naughtiness” of the romance world. I had worried a musical parody put together in a few months would be a cash-grab; plain fan service for those who can’t get enough of those six novels or episodes, not jabbing at the culture so much as stroking its ego. Impressively, as written by Dylan MarcAurele and directed by Alan Kliffer, it satisfies all three camps. Framing is everything, and this romp begins with a faux earnest number, à la Waitress, where three suburban Susans detail their newfound pastime: putting their husbands to bed with some iPad time, knocking back an “Ambien margarita” and reveling in their favorite televised “boy aquarium”.

Key points

• Would I be able to make it through 90 minutes of jokes about an overexposed Canadian gay sports romance, with zero quality guarantee and an even lower blood alcohol concentration?
• At least at the downtown premiere of the popular parody Titanique, long before it proved itself worthy of a handful of Tony nominations, you could stand up and order a bucket of White Claws.
• But then the third specter materialized, the ghost of immersion and surrender, as this very funny production completely won me over.
• (I’ve since learned that a liquor license is forthcoming.) Heated Rivalry , for the uninitiated, is a television show adapted from a series of gay romance novels by Rachel Reid, a straight woman wh…
• Fans of the books petitioned for a wider release of the show produced for the Canadian streamer Crave, last November and, some six months later, its formerly unknown stars Connor Storrie and Hudson…