Review by Elyse Trevers

Parodies are difficult. They have to be clever yet identifiable. They depend upon the audience knowing the parodied material well enough to get the jokes. Looking for subject material, Jonathan Hogue, (books, music & lyrics) chose to parody. the Netflix sensation, Stranger Things.

And why not? Hogue had a built-in audience. The viewership of Stranger Things 4 was impressive with it becoming the fourth title to cross 1 billion hours viewed. Devoted viewers eagerly awaited the final season and Twitter was abuzz when it aired.

Stranger Things is a television phenomenon. The sci-fi horror series created by the Duffer Brothers features young people as the focal characters. The few constant adults, Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour ) the melancholic town sheriff often had their own story line. The show was set in the ‘80s which might explain its appeal to 18-49 year olds.

The heroes were a quartet of nerdy boys, Will, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, fans of D & D who faced the perils of school as well as the unknowns of the Upside Down and the demogorgon. They befriend a young girl “Eleven” who has psychokinetic powers and when Will disappears, she helps to find him. In the meantime, Mike’s older sister Nancy and her boyfriend Steve deal with teenage angst as well as the disappearance of Nancy’s best friend Barb. As the series progressed, the fears of the Cold War and Russian aggression entered the storylines as well.

The show became a sensation. Stranger Things began in 2016 and ran for several seasons. I personally didn’t discover it until several months ago and then binge-watched it, in time for the final season in 2022. The notion of a parody appealed to me. After all, for many hours, I followed the characters of Hawkins, Indiana sharing their suspense and terror. I liked the idea of lightening it up a bit.

The parody Stranger Sings will only appeal to people who know the show and the characters well. It also helps to ‘get’ the movie references. There’s one song that spoofs “Joyce” well-played on TV by Winona Ryder. Caroline Huerta manages to capture the feel of Joyce with her shrillness. During her song, she is backed up by characters from Ryder’s movies.

Sadly sometimes, the parody doesn’t work, and the show is inane. Instead of an actor, “Will” is a puppet. Most of the performers play multiple roles, and although Barb in the show was a minor character and quickly dispatched, she gets a lot of stage time in the parody. The fun talented Slee makes her an important character. There was a lot of fun to be had in the show. I particularly liked the demogorgon with his flower head and svelte body clad in a skintight leotard. Poppa was fun to dislike with his unruly mop of white hair. Harley Seger was excellent as both Nancy and Eleven.

The show is often silly and songs go on too long. But if you loved Strange Things, it might be entertaining to revisit Hawkins just one more time.

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