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Fall the minutes it took. The stars of Heated Rivalry haven’t had the chance to copy each other’s clothes in front of the writer and creator. Dylan MarcAurele he started writing scripts, knowing that a hockey TV series would be his next project. “I had the idea that it would be a one-night-only concert for my friends,” says the New York fringe hit writer. Pop Off, Michelangelo! But then they found producer Alan Kliffer, and the theater was sold before the script was written. “It was a no-brainer,” Kliffer says. “I believed it would be fine, and I was right.”
After a successful Broadway run, Hot Race: The Unlosed Musical Parody is now heading to the Edinburgh fringe – and it’s not the only one. Three consecutive music shows are being launched at this year’s festival. With the success of the show – all the perky keisters, the swanky hotel shags, the sex and hockey booth – Kliffer finds it impossible. “You just know that at the end of the TV show,” he says, “that gay men everywhere will be running to write songs about it.”
Not gay. On the west coast of the US, TV personality Kyra Brown had the same idea. They said: “I was like, this is perfect. “No one has done it yet.” They laugh – this didn’t take long. Brown brought Christan Leonard on board as a co-writer, and their play became Puck Bunnies: A Heated Rivalry Drag Musical Parody, a tongue-in-cheek title that nods to the female hockey fans who love the players in the game. Interested in the female version of the show, the Puck Bunnies have chest drag queens in the middle of the rink. While the book and TV show focus on gay people, Brown and Leonard wanted to cast a wider net. “Our show is great,” says Brown.
It’s Rachel Reid Game Changers Books (of which The Rivalry was second in the series) already had a huge following, but Jacob Tierney’s TV appearance took the story to the stratospheric, making Hot Race leads Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams overnight stars. “We love the thrill,” Leonard says of the show’s success, “and we don’t get a lot of it.”
Brown, who also plays hunky Major League player Ilya Rozanov in Puck Bunnies (“My butt matches his”), has watched the series six times, while Leonard’s tally is up to nine. “The best movies come out of love,” says Leonard. “We all love each other so much, and this allows us to laugh at it, and ourselves.” MarcAurele made sure not to focus on the same: “A little bit left in my mind can be useful, making my stories and B-plots.” After writing, he said: “We are planning to meet each other in the forest, but something may fall on my wife.
Emotions in Hot Race are at a high level; it doesn’t feel like much of a reach for the characters to start singing. With two original songs, plus performances of some musical theater and pop music, Puck Bunnies has a cabaret feel. Brown, whose sister developed the show, said: “It’s a very good way to do theater, as is the case with Fearless. All of these shows have problems in their place, not because of the story they’re telling. “I think it’s unique,” said MarcAurele about the music. “It’s in our DNA. Growing up in limbo, art becomes an escape and we find ways to not think too much of ourselves. We find happiness when there is no happiness.”
Speed was essential to get these demonstrations off the ground. Brown said: “We knew we needed to change quickly. Both groups wrote their scripts in about three weeks, while the Puck Bunnies released editors who were free to play with the words. “Making shows or, God forbid, sheet music, just takes time,” says MarcAurele. “The songs stay in my head, and everyone has to believe me.” It worked: at the SoHo Playhouse, the New Yorker called it “horrible music, without the necessary caveats”.
Adapting a TV show to the stage requires compliance with applicable laws. Parody exists under different laws. Kliffer said: “A lot of times when you watch small things you change things, a lot of times they use the culture of the masses to really make the program that you see.” Art is a kind of comic homage. “I think the key to success is treating it like a real song,” says MarcAurele. “Not just to say it’s just a joke. If you can set the mood and make it funny, there’s nothing better.”
Both productions are coming from the US, which requires a lot of investment in the future. “I recently got a new credit card,” Brown deadpans. Leonard says: “We’ve got the money cheap. “We’ve given all the money to do it.” Their sold-out shows in LA were a disaster, but even the players are putting in some of the money needed to bring the show to Edinburgh. “Hopefully,” says Brown, “we’ll make money so we can give back to everybody.” At the other end of the scale, Hot Race: The Unauthorized Musical Parody is a commercial, privately funded show. “We come from an uncomfortable theater background,” says MarcAurele, so working on such a big budget is “pretty surreal”.
Playing one after the other on the rim, the audience can close out a whole night of ice hockey action. If you want another round the following night, there’s also Hot Race: The Musical Parody!, from the LA comedy troupe Fast & Funny Songsin the same place as Puck Bunnies. And if anyone’s feeling hungry afterwards, fear not: The Outlaws are heading to London, as are fourth – yes, really – musical acts like Trevor Ashley and Phil Scott’s Deep-Heat Rivalry. Puck Bunnies hope for a future life, too. “We get DMs all the time,” says Brown, “like: bring your show to France!” Scottish Heated Rivalry club have already confirmed their presence.
Each of the theater groups is concerned about the number of like-minded shows. “This is what happens with legends,” says MarcAurele. “You have to trust.” Brown has acknowledged that many of these people are marketing opportunities. “Maybe outside, there will be a big conflict,” they say. “But inside, we’re all hanging out at the cabin.”
