The hills are alive with the sound of Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live) and Keegan-Michael Key (The Prom) becoming stuck in a nightmare musical. The first trailer for the Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon! was released on Friday, starring Strong and Key as Melissa and Josh, a couple who stumbles upon a musical town they can never leave, via Indiewire.
Executive produced by Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live) and featuring a never-ending roster of funny people, Schmigadoon! is packed with familiar faces. Alongside Strong and Key, the series stars Tony Award-winning actress Kristen Chenoweth (Glee), Fred Armisen (Portlandia), Alan Cumming (Briarpatch), Jane Krakowski (30 Rock), Ariana DeBose (Hamilton), Aaron Tveit (Graceland), Jaime Camil (Jane the Virgin), Ann Harada (Avenue Q), and Dove Cameron (Liv and Maddie). Notably, the majority of the cast are stage veterans, with most having appeared in Broadway musicals and other various stage productions.
Schmigadoon! is a parody on the many musicals of yesteryear, a callback to when they were all the rage during the golden age of Hollywood. The main source of inspiration though, is the 1954 musical film Brigadoon starring Gene Kelly (An American in Paris) and Cyd Charisse (The Band Wagon). The film follows Kelly as he plays a tourist exploring Scotland and comes across a town called Brigadoon, where none of the townspeople can ever leave due to a centuries long spell placed on the town. Once there, Kelly falls in love with a maiden, played by Charise, and he must decide if he wants to leave, or stay forever.
The trailer for Schmigadoon! is a riot, filled with larger than life townspeople played with flair. Meant to be just a hiking exposition, Melissa and Josh accidentally stumble upon the crazy town of Schimgadoon where song and dance is the norm, and musical numbers threaten to emerge at any moment. They’re greeted by the boisterous town mayor, played by Cumming, with his wife played by the Hamilton star DeBose. Camil is the town’s cutthroat cruel doctor, with Krakowski playing his wild wife. Chenoweth also appears as the uptight wife of the town’s religious leader, played by Armisen. Tviet is the town rebel who has the hots for Melissa, while Cameron portrays a precocious farmer’s daughter crushing on Josh.
Pretty soon after they arrive, Melissa and Josh come to realize they’re stuck in this town that is based in some strange musical theatre universe they can never leave. Strong proceeds to go over the history of musicals in the trailer, saying, “We’re in musical, okay? No one gets killed in a musical. Except for Oklahoma!, and Carousel, and South Pacific..Oh hello, West Side Story!” to which Key responds, “That’s all the musicals!” Safe to say, musicals are not all sunshine and roses, though they may appear to be.
Schimgadoon! will premiere on Apple TV+ July 16 with its first two episodes. Watch the first trailer below: