Review: IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN DAYTON at Detty Studios

What I am about to share with you is an experience that I hope all theatre-goers in the Dayton area get to experience at some point in their lives. You hope that the next play or musical you attend will provide the entertainment or the emotional journey that all audiences crave. But other times, you hope to find the one production that allows you to give into pure absurdity. On Saturday, April 20th, I was able to find that, not in a traditional theater house, but in the humble, nostalgia-esque, small town movie theater, Englewood Cinema. No I am not talking about a movie, nor a traditional musical comedy, I am talking about a live-theatre reenactment of THE NIGHTMAN COMETH from the cult-classic tv show, IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA. 

I bet you’re wondering how that is even possible, but if you are a fan of the tv show, you’ll know that the classic musical episode of IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY… was already performed live by the original cast itself. After debuting as the season 4 finale in 2008, “the gang” took the story and songs on tour the year after where they got to reenact the episode for live audiences. Considering the plot involves them performing an original stage musical, it only makes sense that this would translate smoothly into the live format, and that is the main reason why Detty Studios was able to pull off the same feat. Detty Studios is a fairly new production group to Dayton, founded by Jessica and John Detty, they debuted with Dayton Playhouse last year where John Detty directed and starred in their summer production of EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL. Their group, however, embodies more than just theatre, they work in film, cosplay, web-series, and audio production, and their brand of nerdiness is what makes them an interesting entertainment group. It’s important to note their collaboration with Adam Hendrickson Music, who was able to provide transcriptions of the songs for the show.

Their production of THE NIGHTMAN COMETH (The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Tribute Musical) is spiritually reminiscent of the shadow-cast experience of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, but with real musical talent from the entire cast, and just as much raunchiness. The moment I walked into the movie theater, the cast interacted with us by hosting trivia about the show and a costume contest for the best dressed SUNNY character. The experience was fun and friendly and only created more excitement for the main event. One of my favorite details of this production was recreating the opening title sequence of the sitcom by listing the cast names with video imagery that looks a lot like the original sitcom’s imagery, but with a closer look, it was video of downtown Dayton landmarks instead of Philadelphia. The way Jessica Detty approached the scenery and props shows us how you can make anything work with the resources you have, as long as you have the creativity to pull it off. In front of the movie screen, we saw a set that was covered head to toe in black trash-bag material, which truly describes the trashiness of “the gang” and their home base of Paddy’s Pub. This is later revealed to cover an exact replica of the NIGHTMAN COMETH bedroom set from the show, with the uneven, child-like paint designs of “Charlie” that highlights the nerdy dedication to recreate the classic imagery from the original episode. This is also present in the costuming by Liz Bayes, especially in dressing Sarah Roddey, an actor who has the polar opposite frame of Danny DeVito, who plays “Frank” on the show. Bayes succeeded in making Roddey’s “Frank” frumpy, round, and obviously troll-like, which only propelled her characterization to the pinnacle of hilarity. Kudos to Alix Kragick and Meghan McConnell as well for operating the blinding spot lights during “the gangs” show, which really put us in the “rag-tag community theatre” spirit. 

The way the actors approach their characterizations hold true to the original core of the sitcom’s characters but brought to an elevated level of comedy. John Detty not only served as director of this production, but also portrayed “Mac” as the delusional tough guy who flexes his karate skills with so much flamboyancy when playing “The Nightman”. Detty’s direction allows the actors to freely embody these iconic characters in their own way, and is able to do so because he casts performers that have a love and respect for said characters to not solely copy every mannerism they do, but instead make the material work towards their strengths. For example, Ty Smith plays the musical’s writer, “Charlie” with the mindset that “Charlie” is neurotic when dealing with the others, but it doesn’t remind you so much of Charlie Day’s interpretation. In Smith’s interpretation, they include levels of irritation that provide balance while also stretching out some of the more hammy moments, specifically in the final song that shows off Smith’s impressive vocal and comedy range. 

As mentioned before, when Sarah Roddey is in her “Frank” drag, she becomes the brash character that is chock-full of absurd camp as she revels in the penetration jokes and the perfect delivery of the Troll Toll song. Jake Spicer plays “Dennis” who is the musical’s leading “Boy” that transforms into the “Dayman”. Spicer as “Dennis” gives us the narcissistic flair of the character while also providing a complete arc from awkward stage-fright in his first scene, to comical annoyance with his “interactions” with “Mac”, to sexy confidence in his adoption of “Dayman”. Madison Stapleton, who plays “Dee”, is another actor that takes the spirit of Kaitlin Olson’s portrayal while creating fresh comedy beats in her own portrayal. Her “Dee” was especially interactive and flirtatious with the audience, and her chemistry with “the gang” felt natural as she nailed the whiney stubbornness of the character. 

Jessica Detty doubles her duties by also portraying “The Waitress” that the character “Charlie” writes the musical for as a failed marriage proposal attempt. Her “Waitress” was more heightened than in the sitcom and embodied the straight-woman annoyance that made for perfect comedy. Allyson Jacob portrayed “Artemis” for this show, who is Charlie’s stage manager that makes every attempt to insert her influence on the musical. Jacob gave us snootiness, grandeur, and made for the perfect foil to Charlie’s micromanaging. Dana Kragick played “Gladys” who is the very elderly pianist for the musical, and makes her one shining moment count as the shaky, out of touch grandma figure. 

If there was anything about their production that I would change, I wish it had gone on longer. After the cast gave their bows, only 45 minutes had passed, and as much as I appreciate shorter length shows, I would have loved for this experience to go one for another hour or two. But in that lies the genius idea of “leaving the audience wanting more” and if you’re like me, you’ll be excited to see what else Detty Studios has to offer for Dayton. If you want to follow their future projects, they are on Facebook and Instagram at Detty Studios. Their next musical will be hosted at Xenia Area Community Theater with the musical I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE in October. Just make sure you pay the troll toll!

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