McMusical
Score by Teddy Grey; Book by Teddy Grey and Sam Kaufman; Direction by Nick Navari; Music Direction by Cooper Cardone.
What happens when fast-food nostalgia, corporate culture, clown identity crises, and a whole lot of irreverent humor collide onstage? You get McMusical, an original R-rated musical comedy that takes the familiar world of fast-food mascots and turns it into something decidedly unexpected.
Currently in development with a recent showing at Theater for the New City, McMusical is an independently created musical with a distinctly unconventional point of view. Theatre Beyond Broadway spoke with the creative team about the inspiration behind the piece, the realities of developing an original musical outside the traditional Broadway pipeline, and what they hope to discover when audiences finally get a chance to experience the show.
1.McMusical takes something incredibly familiar, fast-food culture and the larger-than-life mascots associated with it, and turns it into an R-rated musical comedy. What made you think, “Yes, this needs to be a musical”?
I think the fact that they can be described as incredibly familiar and larger-than-life explains perfectly why they’re so well-suited to a musical. The downfall of McDonalds, which went from being a bright, colorful, kid-friendly restaurant to a cold, corporate, joyless place seemed like a good way of illustrating a larger point of a cultural loss of innocence, and how there are really no spaces or figures for children anymore that haven’t been corrupted. And conveniently enough, McDonalds’ mascot is a clown, which is a figure that’s gone from being seen as innocent and wholesome to now basically just being horror movie fodder. Exploring a clown’s identity crisis, and having him try to figure out how he fits into a cynical world, seemed like an idea worthy of a musical.
2. This is a particularly interesting piece of independent theatre because you’re developing an entirely original musical rather than working from an established property. What has the process of creating and developing McMusicaltaught you about making new musical theatre outside of the traditional Broadway pipeline?
It’s taught us that it’s expensive! And incredibly difficult. It takes actually producing something of this magnitude to realize just how many little and big decisions need to be made on a daily basis. From now on, whenever I see a show, I will have a greater appreciation knowing just how many details were labored over. Thankfully, we were blessed to work with a team that was incredibly good at problem solving. To work with people that you trust and respect makes all the difference.
3. This developmental production at Theater for the New City is an opportunity to put McMusical in front of an audience and continue shaping the piece. What are you most curious to discover during these four performances, and what would you love audiences to take away with them when they leave the theatre?
We are curious to discover if people will embrace this crazy show! We know it makes us laugh, then we learned that it made the cast laugh, then the creative team, and the preview audience, so now it’s time to find out if the rest of the attendees will enjoy this style of humor! The music, rhythm, and comedy is all extremely different from what you would expect out of a musical right now, but I think that’s part of what gives the show its charm and edge. So we hope the audience agrees, and we’re eager to find out if they do. When they leave the theater, we want them to take away that it’s possible to live in a better, kinder world. If you truly care, work hard, and treat others well, we can recapture some of the humanity that the world has been missing. Also it doesn’t hurt to lighten up and laugh at dick jokes. The world may suck, but those will always be funny.
CAST:
Randy McDandy - Trent Everett Byers*
Fran - Reba Hartman
Robber-Burger - Teddy Grey
Dandy Boy - Samuel Kaufman
Pingas - Michael Bradley
Barbara / Belle - Madison Merlanti
Amber - Melody Munitz*
Donovere - Tristian Brown
Dick McDandy - Dustin Scully
Duke McDandy - Ricky Wood
Poor Boy - Emma Dalessio
Kid 1 - Gabbe Meloccaro
Kid 2 - Anna Barrett
Understudy / Ensemble - Cameron Moser
“*” indicates AEA performer
CREATIVE TEAM:
Directed by Nick Navari
Book by Teddy Grey & Sam Kaufman
Score by Teddy Grey
Arrangements and Musical Direction by Cooper Cardone
Produced by Jamie Gore Pawlik and Teddy Grey
Stage Manager: Anastasia Novak
Lighting Design: Emma Wills-Umdenstock
Sound Design: Alison Nolan
Set Design: Keelin Gaughan
Listings information
Venue: Theater For The New City, 155 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003
Preview: Thursday, September 17 at 7pm
Performances: Friday, September 18th @ 7pm, Saturday, September
19th @ 7pm, & Sunday, September 20th @ 2pm
Editorial by Malini Singh McDonald.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on September 22, 2026. All rights reserved.