Current:Home > MarketsIn 'Dicks: The Musical' 'SNL' star Bowen Yang embraces a 'petty, messy' God -MacroWatch
In 'Dicks: The Musical' 'SNL' star Bowen Yang embraces a 'petty, messy' God
View
Date:2025-04-15 04:46:19
The next great cult classic movie might be this one, with identical twins, an eccentric mom and dad, a domineering lady boss, a flying vagina, sewer creatures and the Almighty.
“Dicks: The Musical” (in theaters nationwide Friday) is a polarizing, saucy and R-rated spin on “The Parent Trap” with F-bombs galore. It's "offensive, but also absurd and broad and silly,” says Josh Sharp, who writes and co-stars with Aaron Jackson. “Movies like this don't get made anymore."
Director Larry Charles’ musical comedy centers on Craig (Sharp) and Trevor (Jackson), two macho vacuum-parts salesmen who learn they’re long-lost brothers and seek to reunite their divorced parents, adventurously gay Harris (Nathan Lane) and tchotchke-collecting oddball Evelyn (Megan Mullally). Rapper Megan Thee Stallion plays Gloria, the guys' money-loving manager, and “Saturday Night Live” regular Bowen Yang plays the narrator, God himself, who plans to include what Sharp calls “this insane story” in the Bible. “It's just sort of the dumbest thing we could do.”
Are you prepared for “Dicks”? Here’s what to expect from the year’s most bizarre musical:
‘Dicks’ originated in the New York comedy scene
Sharp and Jackson’s original two-man, 30-minute, way-off-Broadway show was born at Manhattan’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in the 2010s. Back then, “the stakes were low,” Sharp says. "It really felt like we were (messing) around and nobody was watching.” Yang adds that he saw it “multiple times" and the show "became this touch point for a lot of queer comedians in the city.”
Jackson says they lost money on the show but by turning it into a movie – a much bigger lift – “we did get paid.” Sharp jokes: “I bought a boat for each of my six beautiful daughters.”
Bowen Yang plays the God of ‘Dicks’ as ‘a petulant gay guy in hot pants’
Bowen’s God is an omniscient narrator who ultimately becomes a part of the story, has several "fabulous" costume changes and is part of the big finale. “He’s just kind of observing, going 'That was fierce. Let's keep going,’” Yang says. Seeking an addendum to the Bible is “such a clever, simple, elegant way to make his presence have some stake to it.”
Yang definitely had a different take on the role, in contrast to actors like Morgan Freeman and Alanis Morissette. “There's an interpretation of God that people are afraid to sort of externalize, where he is this petty, messy deity," Yang says. "If he doesn't like something, then he'll flood the Earth or make it rain frogs, these really campy, gay things. And so, of course, he's this petulant gay guy in hot pants."
Bowen Yang on 'SNL':'Fuel up, do more' to fight racism against Asian Americans
Look out, Hollywood, here come the Sewer Boys
Everything from “The Rocky Horror Show” and “Book of Mormon” to old Gene Kelly musicals were influences. But Jackson looked to “Gremlins,” “The Dark Crystal” and “those ‘80s movies with very handheld, tactile, nasty little creatures” as inspirations for the Sewer Boys, Harris' little live-in beasties. That brought a throwaway joke in the original show to diaper-clad life in the film.
Sharp recalls when Lane first read in the script that their names were, inexplicably, Backpack and Whisper, he laughed for five minutes straight at the absurdity. “If you think that's funny, this film is for you. And if you don't, it's not for you,” Sharp says. “Go home and watch 12 hours of ‘Blue Bloods.’”
Megan Thee Stallion ruling the Oscar stage? 'Dicks' could make that happen
The conversation gets rowdy when awards season comes up: “Best actress for me and Aaron?” Sharp asks. “Do the Oscars still do Best Gay Guy Comedy Duo?” Yet “Dicks” has a legitimate shot at the best original song with its catchy, often ribald show tunes. Sharp wouldn’t mind seeing a nomination for Lane and Mullally’s heartfelt ballad “Lonely,” “which was a joke to us that in the middle of this gonzo film, you'd sort of have three minutes where you're like, ‘Oh my God, I sort of care for these people.’”
But we're all for potentially seeing Megan Thee Stallion strut and twerk at the Oscars doing her movie showstopper, “Out-Alpha the Alpha.” “She was very down to clown,” Sharp adds. “She came in the first day when we met her and she was like, ‘You know, people know I'm dirty, but y'all are dirty.’ ”
Musical creators hope 'Dicks' lets people find their 'tribe'
As "Dicks" goes wide, chances are conservatives and religious folk won't love the lyrics of the finale number "All Love Is Love" – especially with the use of a certain gay slur in the chorus. What Jackson's more interested in is "if it will make $1 or $2 billion," he says with a laugh.
"Honestly, in making this movie, we're only thinking about the people who get it and not the people who wouldn't," Sharp adds. "It's nice that you can find your tribe of comedy weirdos and queer people and outrageous people and fans of musicals and people drawn to the audacious.
"There's so many movies that are even wildly popular that are no one's favorite movie. So the idea that we could make someone's favorite movie is fun."
veryGood! (634)
Related
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- What you didn’t see on ‘Golden Wedding’: Gerry Turner actually walked down the aisle twice
- 50-year friendship offers a close look at caring dialogue on Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2 indicted in $8.5 million Airbnb, Vrbo scam linked to 10,000 reservations across 10 states
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- What you didn’t see on ‘Golden Wedding’: Gerry Turner actually walked down the aisle twice
- 'White Lotus' Season 3 cast revealed: Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs and more
- David Soul, the actor who portrayed the blond half of TV’s ‘Starsky and Hutch,’ dies at 80
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- 'I can't feel my fingers': 13-year-old Tetris winner dumfounded after beating game
Ranking
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Connor Bedard, 31 others named to NHL All-Star Game initial roster. Any notable snubs?
- B-1 bomber crashed during training mission in South Dakota; aircrew members ejected safely
- Natalia Grace’s Adoptive Mom Kristine Barnett Breaks Her Silence on Explosive Docuseries
- The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
- Stars converge in Palm Springs to celebrate year’s best films and Emma Stone’s career
- Crocodile launches itself onto Australian fisherman's boat with jaws wide open
- Guam investigates fatal shooting of Korean visitor and offers $50,000 reward for information
Recommendation
South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
Researchers team up with mental health influencers to reach young people online
Selena Gomez's Eye Rolls and Everything Else to Love About Her Bond With Martin Short and Steve Martin
Cecil the dog ate through $4,000 in cash. Here's how his Pittsburgh owners got the money back.
Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
Do 'Home Town' stars Erin, Ben Napier think about retiring? Their answer, and design advice
Boeing still hasn’t fixed this problem on Max jets, so it’s asking for an exemption to safety rules
Heavy rains leave parts of England and Europe swamped in floodwaters