‘Duck Dynasty’ musical is sincere, satires reality TV culture

It’s not a spoof, but it might be satire.

When Miss Kay (Mimi Bessette) sings to troubled Robertson family patriarch Phil (Tad Wilson) “Hey redneck, my sweet redneck …” it isn’t a “Saturday Night Live” bit. It is even, gasp, a bit touching.

“Duck Commander Musical,” the new Broadway-style show at the Rio based on the “Duck Dynasty” family, lives up to its pledge not to make fun of its subjects.

But making fun of how and why the Robertsons are famous? Open season.

Perhaps the creators from the New York side of this cultural collision want to bring in their friends and point out a deeper layer; that their well-crafted and tuneful froth is also a looping “meta” musical about pop culture spiraling to the point where we have a “Duck Dynasty” musical.

“How many minutes are left? Of our 15?” Miss Kay asks in the home stretch, as an offer to turn the family story into a Broadway show becomes an actual plot point that leads to the finale, which is — ta-da! — the musical, or at least a Mel Brooks/“Producers” vision of it, complete with camouflage chorus line.

The show is as much about self-awareness and the speed at which pop culture eats itself as it is about the Robertsons.

But fear not. In the true “Duck Dynasty” spirit of transparent hucksterism, the Robertsons are happy to be your jesters, or at least serve as their own Greek chorus — chiming in from the video screens like the old codgers in the Muppet balcony — if it helps sell duck calls and cook books.

The problem with the 90-minute show lies more in its structure than its slick look and sound, or even its outlook. It works better in short bursts than as a whole. There’s too much talking to call it a revue, but not enough happening to make much of a story.

Perhaps because “Duck Commander” comes from the producers of “Jersey Boys,” we recognize the cinematic attempt to blend the songs with “speed plot” narration or short scenes as the live band fades down to an underscore. Maybe it’s a true test of the cultural divide, but Willie scoring his first big duck call order with Wal-Mart doesn’t have the same impact of the Four Seasons scoring their first hit record.

But it’s fair to say fans of “Duck Dynasty” may also be fans of Carrie Underwood. They will find plenty to like in the pop-country score by a trio of songwriters (Joe Shane, Robert Morris and Steven Morris), from the opening declaration of “Faith Food & Family” to Korie’s pep talk to Willie about wearing his “Camouflage.”

The songs mix Broadway tropes old and new. A young, pre-beard Willie (Ben Thompson) proposing to Korie (Ginna Claire Mason) down by the creek could be Billy and Julie in “Carousel.” The invention of “a duck call that sounds like a duck” could be the factory eureka moment from “Kinky Boots.” The Robertson women dancing up the kitchen as they’re “Cooking for the Family” could be from “Oklahoma” or”Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”

Officially, writer Asa Somers isn’t adapting the A&E TV series, but Willie & Korie Robertson’s memoir, “The Duck Commander Family — How Faith, Family and Ducks Built a Dynasty.” But “sometimes a good story needs a little condensation,” as Uncle Si (Jesse Lenat) tells us.

And most of what made the cut is a familiar theme that’s hard to make average folks care about: The cost of fame is privacy, and the price is paid when an old redneck can’t be left alone in his homophobia without getting the whole country riled.

Not that you hear the word “homophobia,” or even what Phil says to get in trouble. He leans in to tell a magazine interviewer “what the Bible says on the subject,” leaving only a coded Leviticus reference to the Christian fan base as to what the subject is.

It makes the musical less honest than it professes to be when the united family eventually reaffirms Phil’s right to state his “same strong opinion about a whole bunch of subjects.”

It’s also a bit late in the game to get serious when the interview crisis sets up a flashback to Phil’s drinking days and his Christian conversion. By then, “Musical” is well past its home run, when the show-stealing Si explains what a “Ladies Man” he is with barnstorming ’70s disco panache.

“Duck”fans might be disappointed to see family members such as Jase, Jessica and Missy reduced to little more than the chorus. But rest assured they get plenty of Si, complete with one-liners, farts and an on-stage whiz. Nobody said this was “Death of a Salesman.”

If the collective effect is uneven, the craftsmanship is right up there with a Signature Series Willie duck call. It’s a level of execution which theater-goers in “pre-Broadway” cities such as Chicago are used to: The script and structure may need more work, but they already get the top-shelf acting, choreography (by director Jeff Calhoun) and production design.

Lenat’s dead-on Si is what the breakout character demands. But Thompson, Mason and especially Bessette as Miss Kay, do such a great job of inhabiting the Robertsons without slavishly imitating them that there’s no arguing whether “Duck Commander Musical” feels “real.” The only question is how far we’ve stretched our definition of reality.

Read more from Mike Weatherford at bestoflasvegas.com. Contact him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.