Quarantine – the musical

I was wondering how long it would take for a bunch of theatre kids to develop a musical based around current affairs and specifically quarantine. This is exactly what “Quarantine the musical” is as it parodies lots of the things that have come out of people being encouraged to stay home for an extended period of time. I have to add a caveat I know Lockdown has been super difficult for many people not being able to see loved one or developing mild cabin fever and I (or the team behind Quarantine the musical) are in now way trivialising it or making a joke about it. But this cheesy , over-the-top musical was the welcomed break attempting to lift the listeners moods.

Quarantine the musical is a short movie musical available on YouTube that is only 10 minutes long. Due to how show the entire musical is it does make the action move very quickly (at certain times too fast) but does make it very easy to listen to due to the array of comedic sketches. It is your classic cheesy, over-the-top musical theatre style movie with a cast who are clearly musical fanatics filled with catchy musical numbers. The story of this movie is a satirical perspective on the ‘journey’ people have been through lockdown from the joys are having now work/school to the bordered and frustration of being stuck inside. I know myself and more other people have been on a rollercoaster of emotions through lockdown and originally thought the idea of staying home would be fun but after a while became very , very , very bored and so for this musical to capture this journey so realistically and accurately is very impressive. It also represents those people who believe that the lockdown (and by extension the virus itself) is simply an invention by the government to control our actions. The closing moments show the characters discuss how they believe it was a control move by the government and now they are going to enjoy the outside world as the virus is no longer a threat by after a blackout it is revealed that Florida (where the musical is set) has since had a second spike and encourages people to use common sense to help prevent this happening other countries. As you would expect from a musical about the recent lockdowns , this is a very modern musical that also has a clever use of new bulletins to open and close the movie. This was a tense way to open the show and helps to establish the ideas of the entire musical which was very clever.

This is very much a movie musical for a young teenage audience as it contains scenes of a sexual nature , depict alcohol use and I personally believe that a younger audience may miss the air of satire this movie possesses. There is one line in particular that represents my time in lockdown “they used to say I drink too much but jokes of them I’ll drink for brunch” I personally consumed a lot more alcohol than I should have during lockdown and I know many people have gone through the same thing. The other number that really stood out to me was a a burlesque sounding number that was sung by a character who viewed herself as the queen of quarantine in a way. She flaunts her forward-thinking and organisation skills during lockdown to rule the house where the musical is set. I can honestly say that I know many people like this who are ridiculously proud of being on-top of lockdown who acts exactly like this woman. I also really enjoyed the drastic change of atmosphere within the opening song that portrayed a flash forward in time marked with a sharp changes in emotions and lights which was done very well with a slight air of comedy about it.

Overall this was a fun , short movie musical that cleverly parodied current affairs while dancing on the line of relatable character/activities and comedic relief. At only 10 minutes it moves fairly quickly with many catchy songs that get stuck in your head. I would rate this musical as 4 out of 5 stars! You can find Quarantine the musical at (https://youtu.be/hBwm3DtJGhE)