By Debbie Hall
If you crave camp, chaos and couture, Showgirls: The Musical Parody is ready to serve it with rhinestones on top, inviting fans of high camp and irony to celebrate excess together. Plan to experience it for its final weekend, March 7-8 at the Majestic Repertory Theatre.
What started as one of the most notorious cinematic misfires of the 1990s has been transformed into a one-of-a-kind theatrical mashup. Inspired by the cult legacy of Showgirls, this stage production combines the film’s over-the-top excess with a knowingly outrageous song-and-dance extravaganza, creating a spectacle that feels like Oklahoma! collided with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls—blending Golden Age musical earnestness with exploitation-era glam.
The film, directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas, became infamous for its NC-17 rating, over-the-top performances and naked ambition. Dismissed, it later achieved cult status (similar to Rocky Horror Picture Show) for precisely the qualities critics once criticized.
The musical parody leans into all of it, promising a lively, satirical spectacle that will thrill fans of theatrical extravagance and sharp wit.
Here, the dog-eat-dog world of the Las Vegas Strip becomes a satirical playground. Ambition is belted at a volume of 11. Rivalries are choreographed with high kicks. Emotional breakdowns are combined with jazz hands. The production heightens every narrative beat, transforming cinematic melodrama into theatrical absurdism.
Costume design revels in maximalism — think sequins that could signal aircraft and “Versayce” pronounced with a wink. Choreography channels the precision of classic Broadway while slyly skewering Vegas revue pageantry. Musically, the score alternates between lush, Rodgers-and-Hammerstein-style sincerity and pounding dance-floor numbers that wouldn’t be out of place on the Strip.
Yet beneath the parody lies something sharper. By embracing themes of fame, hunger, exploitation, and survival, the show invites audiences to reflect on the machinery of entertainment and their place within it.
If you adore high camp, theatrical audacity and a glitter cannon’s worth of irony, this is your show. It’s big, brash and blissfully unashamed — a love letter to excess that proves sometimes the best way to honor a cult classic is to sing it at the top of your lungs.
CONTENT WARNING: Based on the notorious NC-17-rated movie, Showgirls contains nudity, sexual situations, R&B grooves, and absolutely zero taste. Not recommended for patrons under 18 or the easily offended.
TICKETS
VIP Cabaret Seating – $59.95
General Admission – $49.95
Additional cast meet & greet add-on available for $20
Book and Lyrics by Troy Heard
Score by James E. Edwards
Directed by Troy Heard
Majestic Repertory Theatre
1217 S. Main St.
Tickets are available by clicking here
