Escape to Margaritaville – Review by Noel Teter

Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville at Ivoryton Playhouse: love, laughs, and a lighthearted script

Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville is a jukebox musical, the score composed of Buffett hits and deep cuts. Not everyone will recognize all the songs in the play – I, for one, am young enough to only recognize “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and, of course, “Margaritaville.” However, the plot is easy to follow, if not lacking a bit in nuance and suspense. The cast and characters succeed in bringing Greg Garcia and Mike O’Malley’s fundamental rom-com script to life by highlighting the key personality traits of each.

Escape to Margaritaville follows Rachel (Margaret Dudasik) and her best friend Tammy (Maggie Bera) during their vacation to an island resort. There, Rachel, a hard-working scientist and entrepreneur, falls for Tully (Sam Sherwood), the laid-back hotel lounge singer. Meanwhile, Tammy finds a connection with the lovable bartender Brick (Beau Bradshaw). Tammy and Brick have an immediate chemistry but cannot date due to Tammy’s engagement, while Rachel’s go-getter attitude clashes with Tully’s relaxed approach to life. Only years later, after each has attained professional success, does their romance thrive.

Sherwood and Dudasik, meanwhile, perform their roles smoothly. The actress delivers each line with its proper level of emotional flair, while Sherwood balances Tully’s attitude of “the real world stinks” with his sensitivity, likability, and desire to give his best love to Rachel. Bera impresses as the loud and bubbly Tammy, who eventually ditches her fat-shaming jerk of a fiancée, Chadd, for Brick, who is dim of wit but bright of spirit. They become the play’s endearingly goofy couple who are perfect for each other in spite of – or, rather, thanks to – their eccentricities.

LaDonna Burns captures the biting wit of resort manager Marley, who takes no nonsense from anyone but enjoys some good gossip and truly loves her employees. Don Noble does a fine job as the musical’s wise old man, J.D., a role which becomes clear over the course of the play after J.D. appears senile and lost early in the show. His wisdom shows when he urges Tully to chase his romance with Rachel after she departs the island. He then showcases his sharp memory by finding his buried treasure that Marley didn’t think even existed. Later, he flies himself, Marley, Tully, and Brick off the island on his plane amid a volcanic eruption. The actors do a very good job of livening up the show through their portrayals of their characters.

The script is heavy on foreshadowing and predictability. The impending volcanic eruption becomes obvious from the moment Tully references a past eruption to Rachel. From the first few minutes of their interactions, it becomes clear that Tully will end up with Rachel and Brick will end up with Tammy. As soon as someone says “someone on this island is a huge gossip” in front of Marley, you can pretty much guess she’s the one.

Clint Hromsco’s direction is snappy, leaving no dead time between scenes. Hromsco highlights the development of his characters well. The slow and sure revelation of J.D.’s wisdom based on his eccentric personal history is an example, while Tammy gradually working up the courage to leave Chadd is another.
Hromsco’s choreography is unspectacular but solid. In terms of dancing, Bradshaw is the star of the musical, using his husky build to perform comically fluid moves that remind me of Sal Vulcano of the TV show Impractical Jokers.

The musical’s score is entirely Buffett’s signature mix of light beach rock, country, and pop. Sherwood embodies this spirit as he strums his acoustic guitar in his partially unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt and beach shorts. Other featured songs include “We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About,” “Why Don’t We Get Drunk,” “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” and “Volcano.”

Some of the lyrics of “Margaritaville,” Buffett’s biggest hit and the closing number of Act 1, actually foreshadow events of the show. For example, blind in one eye, J.D. “searches for his lost shaker of salt” several times in the beginning of the show, while Tully “strums his six-string” and Marley serves a sponge cake well into the first act.

The scenic design by Cully Long utilizes Ivoryton’s limited space to create a versatile backdrop that doubles as an island resort and several nameless music and party venues. Marcus Abbott’s lighting design, which shifts between sunset and nighttime, complements this scenic flexibility. Props master Melissa Titus adds some fun to the show, most notably during “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” in which cast members wield cheeseburgers made of Slinkys.

Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville continues through Sept. 15 at the Ivoryton Playhouse.

Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville

  • Book by Greg Garcia and Mike O’Malley
  • Music and lyrics by Jimmy Buffett
  • Directed and choreographed by Clint Hromsco
  • Musical director: Dan Gibson
  • Scenic designer: Cully Long
  • Lighting designer: Marcus Abbott
  • Costume designer: K Duffner
  • Stage manager: James Joseph Clark
  • Assistant stage manager: Rahxas Colite
  • Sound designer: Dustin Pfaender
  • Props master: Melissa Titus