schmicago | every musical reference in episode 2 | season 2 of Schmigadoon! review + analysis

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OHMYGOD HEY!
The Apple TV+ series SCHMIGADOON is back with a new season set in the darker world of SCHMICAGO!
In today's vlog I'm recapping, reviewing and analysing the second episode of season 2 and talking you through the many musical theatre references I noticed...
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#schmicago #Broadway #schmigadoon

[@colebeck6528]

Is it bad that I think Doorway to Where has a better melody than Corner of the Sky?

[@charliehuffman326]

Kristin Chenoweth confirmed on a late night talk show (Seth Meyers) that her character is meant to be a hybrid of Mrs. Lovett and Miss Hannigan, so your suspicions are correct!

[@charliehuffman326]

Here is the clip from the show. She talks about the role at around 2:45. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXjQpXR9oa2XZrs

[@mockingjay458]

I might have screamed FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT at the top of my lungs when the Chorus Line parody started

[@WilliamMannPGH]

I have watched two superfan breakdown videos on KZbin of the first two episodes, naming easter egg after easter egg! And what I caught that they BOTH missed was the very beginning! Splat, click, there's the foot. Any pain? Ow! (Pop, six, squish, uh-uh, Cicero, Lipschitz)! Great video though. Thank you!

[@londongirl2768]

I knew it sounded familiar, that’s genius! 😊

[@Phelie315]

The scene where the girls during the audition were sharing stuff about their lives was also giving me strong Cell Block Tango vibes :)

[@ecooper1028]

There were 2 other things I noticed. In Jenny's apartment, the record plays jazzy covers of songs from season one. "All of your Heart" plays when the scene starts and "Suddenly" starts up when officer Rivera comes in and chats alone with Melissa - a cute little nod to the romance in Schmigadoon." And during "Breaking Out", the song is intercut with a hot honey rag riff. It's so close to the original that on first watch I thought they were just playing the song.

[@peculiarjohn6900]

I am already hoping that there is a Season 3 giving the same treatment to the heart-on-the-sleeve shows of the 1980s and 1990s (like Les Mis, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, etc.) or a Season 4 with musicals since 2000 and an emphasis on crass or topical comedy (The Producers, Urinetown, Avenue Q, Book of Mormon, etc.).

[@knotezbingreen]

I vote for Schmaigon - mega musicals; then spinoffs: Schmadestown, & Schmemphis!

[@orangeelliot]

I want enough seasons to make it to the Spring Awakening era!

[@PianoDisneygal10]

I want a Schmext to normal.

[@delaneyewert5399]

Les Schmiserables

[@tenkitty]

The Schmast five years 😅

[@suzannewdowik]

Could just be a coincidence, but I believe at one point Aaron Tveit's character says "all you need is love", which is a line he sings in Moulin Rouge

[@callalily3994]

I noticed that too.

[@PianoDisneygal10]

*says in Moulin Rouge. He speaks it. He made it clear they didn’t have the rights to that song and so he has to speak the line instead.

[@marcsparks7863]

I'm convinced that the obscure Rocky Horror sequel "Shock Treatment" is being referenced. In it, Brad Majors spends the majority of the movie institutionalized in a jail cell wearing a striped straightjacket. His wife, Janet sets out to try to free him, but a mysterious millionaire in the shadows makes her into a TV singing star. She becomes more and more vain and self obsessed, at one point visiting Brad in his cell but keeps getting distracted by her newfound fame. Eventually, others help Brad escape while the song "Breakin' Out" is performed.

[@JM-yp5zm]

I've been waiting for years for Aaron Tveit to sing Corner of the Sky and now we got his (well.. Topher's) own version of the song

[@MySUPERkate]

Already I’m hooked on series two!! So much more complex than series 1! Loving it!!!! Dear god, please let there be a series 3!

[@julezyme]

I'm already writing Les Schmiz ... Cinco, call me 😊

[@UranusHz420]

Schmanadu

[@fundifferent1]

A lot more references in episode 2. some othrs not mentioned: Bobbie's coat is the same as the outfits Roxie and Velma wear in Hot Honey Rag in the film Chicago. The song Here Comes Bobby has a similar melody to Poor Baby from Company. "Pooor baby, all alone..." is similar to "Here comes Bobby, Bobby baby." Her strut to their whistling could also be a reference to Gypsy. The Melissa jail number also has dance moves taken from Hot Honey Rag of references. That number also kind of references the performance within a performance trend in musicals like the Baby June scenes from Gypsy or the numbers from 42nd Street

[@jaydee970]

After the performance Jenny says to Melissa "Everyone adores you" which is taken directly from Joanne in Company.

[@matildamwh]

this is a reference that aaron tviet said himself in an interview, but; in ‘doorway to where’ he mentions squirrels and robins, a direct reference to his first song in schmigadoon ‘you can’t tame me’

[@lindamoulton1560]

I'm absolutely with you on Doorway to Where, I may have pulled a muscle laughing so hard at some of the lyrics (especially the spider one 🤣🤣🤣)

[@RobbnCO]

I was literally in tears at the I Need To Eat/I Hope I Get It parody

[@johnbliss9330]

In addition to your references, "quick" also means "alive," as in "The quick and the dead," and of course, Elsie is now dead. "Quick" is also an old reference to being pregnant, so maybe Quick St is an abortionist office. Sally, of course, got an abortion in Cabaret, and there's also an implication that Elsie (in Cabaret) may have died during an abortion. As a matter of fact, she rented b the hour.

[@lyndsayhawkins8747]

I know Bye Bye Birdie fairly well (I played Mr. Macafee in a junior production) and I just thought of some more potential references in that press conference scene. First is the just the idea of a press conference, of which Bye Bye Birdie had many. The reporter characters may be a nod to the reporters in the show as well. Finally, Bobby's script blaming the murder of Elsie on jazz music could be a reference to the hatred of rock & roll in the show, which the parents also use as justification for all of the crazy things their kids are doing. Thought you might appreciate the insight :)

[@audramcdonaldapologist3676]

Also didn’t Conrad try to make out with Kim and that’s why he has to leave Sweet Apple?

[@terryhastings2465]

There are also a lot of newspaper references in Chicago and they blamed "Jazz" for Roxie

[@RizzoF21344]

I've never seen Hair on stage, only the movie. Is Claude dressed like a hippy on stage? Going by the movie I'd say Aaron Tveit is dressed like Burger, not Claude.

[@Snuggelbubs1]

One HUGE reference to, wait for it - Twelfth Night!! ... in the audition scene. A very clear reference in the visuals, and I love that the creators are steeped in ALL theater - from 1970s musical theater all the way back to Shakespeare. I loved this video analysis, btw.

[@davcockrell2491]

Loved the blatant references to extra-era "Avenue Q" (besides Ann Harada)! In the Josh/Topher scene! Topher is talking about "My Purpose" (as in Princeton's first song). When Melissa tells Josh she got a job, Josh says "Thank you - - Sweetheart!" in the same cadence that Brian says (basically) the same thing to Ms Harada in "Q"! Finally when Topher puts on a sock puppet - that's one final straw! Just sayin'!

[@RizzoF21344]

11:59 talking about the kid with the newspapers. I think that's more the kid from Chicago who has newspapers saying Roxie found not guilty impossibly fast.

[@cocojustino3783]

I think Topher’s name might be a play on Berger in Hair? But like tofu?????

[@callalily3994]

The leprechaun said that they need to find a happy ending. Of the shows that have been referenced so far, the only one that can really be described as having a happy ending is Annie, so I'm thinking that might come in somehow. (I mean, you could maybe say Chicago has a happy ending, but that could be stretching the meaning of the term a bit. Pippin is "trapped, but happy," which doesn't really work.)

[@nicole-ls4jb]

Oh, just reading this got me wondering if Josh and Melissa will ADOPT a child!

[@cuchelo1]

This is the way.

[@julezyme]

Maybe the evil club owner will be redeemed by a moppet orphan and turn into Daddy Warbucks.

[@julezyme]

Although "trapped, but happy" is basically a decent marriage 😜

[@DarkKnight-pe3ex]

Madame Frau also says Fame costs so I definitely think it’s a nod to fame.

[@JenniferFuss]

I thought the dancers introducing their reasons for dancing was reminiscent of the murderers row murderes explain how they murdered their victims, just spoken instead of sung.

[@chelseamanasseri4362]

Unpopular opinion, but I hope there's no season 3. This show is brilliant and forcing it to continue just because it's popular is often a recipe for disaster. Two great seasons are enough!

[@divaart1]

I think Aaron Tviet’s name might be in reference to him often being mistaken for the actor Topher Grace from That 70’s Show

[@corgilover2319]

Love all the Chicago underscoring spoofs that they are using lots of! The score (as well as the songs) need to come out soon! Also I think maybe the tattoo and Bobby Flannigan have nothing in common. In Company women were all drawn to Bobby "Bobby is my hobby and I'm giving him up" so maybe that is her tattoo. They Bobby Flannigan is just a transposed way to make Billy Flynn by keeping the letters the same.

[@julezyme]

I'm getting a lot of Godspell film vibes already, looking forward to the ❤ Bus

[@neiltandy1437]

Have you seen national lottery night of musicals and disney plus series encore

[@maurinet2291]

Encore is great.

[@miz_logo_lee]

There were newsies in the stage show within the play at the beginning of Gypsy. I’m seeing at least a couple Gypsy references and it is a bit of a transitional musical from golden age to edgy.

[@stuartm6069]

I was thinking the same thing about the newsboy. Gypsy premiered on Broadway in May, 1959 and ran until 1961. And it is a transitional musical. It has the upbeat tunes of the 50''s musicals. And it doesn't have a happy ending, much like the 60's musicals. ( Spoiler: Louise, June, and Herbie all abandon Rose in the end.)

[@youchoosemyadventure]

Gypsy opened in 1959. So it could be a reference to the news boys in Gypsy as well. Closer to that era.

[@maurinet2291]

They had a bit of a Rose's Turn moment in the first ep.

[@wehojm7320]

You gathered a lot of info in this vlog. This episode is jam packed with so many musical theater references. Thanks for sorting it all out. I actually have to see the show.

[@canchoreo]

You NAILED it!! Also having watched episode three already -you are BANG ON and basically psychic! Quick street!! Whoaaaa

[@victoriaramos1972]

I might have screamed FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT at the top of my lungs when the Chorus Line parody started

[@SarahBiercBandC]

The Happiness Bus is definitely a slight Hello, Dolly! reference because in “So Long Dearie,” near the end of the show, Dolly references the Happiness Express.

[@julezyme]

Sgt Rivera as in Chita 😊❤

[@MickeyJoTheatre]

HOW DID I NOT THINK OF THIS?!

[@julezyme]

You picked up soooo many things I missed! The whole Into The Woods thing, and I even saw the gender swapped Company in the West End and didn't get the Bobby reference 😅

[@julezyme]

You got big dreams? You want fame? Well fame costs. And right here is where you start paying.

[@garretts874]

Dove Cameron has really endeared me this season. I wasn't a huge fan in Season 1, but her "Sally" is amazing.

[@TheForeverM]

Is this a reaction video without the reactions?! Or just a video with pauses and then a description of what happened editing the pauses?! Sorry first impressions reaction. Didn’t you do any videos for season 1? X

[@nicoleb581]

I assumed Topher was an homage to the prince in Cinderella. Though him being called Topher wasn't a thing until the revival.

[@helena-km1pi]

just watched ep 3 and omg you completely nailed the quick/fleet/easy street connection

[@ragtmt15]

Maybe it’s just me and I know it’s way way to soon but with a slight nod with Hades from Patrick Page

[@ameliaretter8120]

I think there's also some snippets that sound a lot like the Chicago overture in Bustin Out when the wall gets pulled away.

[@matthewboyles9330]

Hi how are you doing

[@rae_zina]

As phantom is 80s, I think the costumes are more reminiscent of the players in pippin and we'll see more phantom and other mega musicals next season!

[@tkdally]

The newsboy is an internal reference back to S1 where there was also a newsie-type character

[@MySUPERkate]

Completely missed the sound of music reference there!

[@susanpolastaples9688]

I predict that Season 3 will be Schmihamilicked Rouge.

[@scribbly2983]

Maybe Schmantom? Schment?

[@susanpolastaples9688]

@@scribbly2983 Schmoozies comes to mind

[@callalily3994]

@@susanpolastaples9688 Can't really skip over the mega-musicals of the eighties. Schmantom would be my guess.

[@susanpolastaples9688]

@@callalily3994 what about Schmiseables?

[@julezyme]

Omg, yes, Les Schmiz

[@misterjakester]

Along with all the other Chorus Line references the different dancers were also in various of the different resting poses that have become associated with the discusses of the show. Absolutely loved the episode

[@madulaoblongata1903]

I watched the first season and was disappointed. Pure twee.