Splish: The Rise and Fall of the Show and Tail blazed new tails this past weekend, with its innovative concept and execution. The show played this past Friday October 23 and Saturday October 24, with a soft opening Thursday October 22. The first spectacle of its kind that I have ever seen, Splish was a little campy, a little trampy, and very entertaining. It seamlessly combined elements of theater, musical performance, side show, striptease/burlesque, dance party, and masque, to create an atmosphere and experience in a genre of its own. It was risqué without being offensive, odd without being over-the-top weird, and creative yet still relatable. A bit like a nautical-themed Rocky Horror Picture Show, the music was good, the cast was talented, and the décor was lovely and befitting of the underwater world you were transported to. There were naughty sailors, dancing mermaids, giant sea monsters, and plenty of fish in the sea. The musical numbers reeled you in, while the story line kept you hooked.
My only disappointment was a lack of actual live swimming mermaids, due to a tank malfunction right before curtain time. But the show went on with all the fishy flair and mer-magic you would expect from such a unique theatrical endeavor.
A few among the cast deserve a special shout-out, so put your fins together and give it up for Neon Burgundy as the bearded “merstress,” queen among mermaids; for Labanna Babalon, as Polly Ann-- the mermaid wanna-be who would trade her legs and her innocence for a mermaid’s life; and for Pesca and her Tiny Bubbles, the band led by singer Meschiya Lake, whose siren-esque voice serenaded us with all the fabulous tunes.
