“D*cks: The Musical” is a musical comedy film created by Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson, based on their off-Broadway musical “F*cking Identical Twins.” The film was directed by Larry Charles (“Seinfeld,” “Borat”) and released through A24, as their first movie-musical. The film stars Sharp and Jackson alongside Nathan Lane (“The Birdcage,” “The Producers”), Megan Mullaly (“Will and Grace”), Bowen Yang (“Saturday Night Live”), and Megan Thee Stallion. The music was written by Sharp, Jackson, and Karl Saint Lucy along with scoring by Karl Saint Lucy and Marius de Vries. Alongside the release of the film, a cast album was subsequently released, which is able to stand alone apart from the film and still manages to convey the satirical and completely over-the-top raunchiness of the movie musical.
The opening song “I’ll Always Be On Top,” establishes the tone of the musical right away. The first lyric sung by Trevor Brock (Jackson) is “My c*ck is f*ckin’ massive, it always makes the ladies sore.” Listeners know they are about to be in for a hilarious, raunchy, and wild ride. “I’ll Always Be On Top” musically has the sound of a classic broadway opening number; with an uptempo beat full of big brassy instruments and a compelling drum beat.
You know this is not going to be some kind of family friendly golden age musical despite the musical sound as main characters Trevor Brock and Craig Tiddle are established within the first minute of the opening number as sleazy cishet white men who only care aboutchicks and making money. They also like to “talk a lot about their d*cks” hence the title of the musical. “D*cks: The Musical,” lets audiences know what it is right away: it is not for those who cannot find a joke and absurdity in everything, and certainly not for those who can’t handle a whole lot of vulgarity.
Mullaly and Lane give phenomenal performances as Evelyn and Harris, the divorced parents of
Trevor and Craig who separated them at birth in the style of “The Parent Trap.” Mullaly
has transformed herself fully, and portrays the character of Evelyn superbly through her voice alone. She really shines comedically from her first appearance in “Evelyn’s Song” to stealing the final line in “All Love is Love.” Lane delivers a wonderful performance as always in what may somehow be his most wild role yet. While his solo song “Gay Old Life” may be one of the less memorable from the album, he still delivers a brilliant comedic performance as the straight and gay father of the twins.
“You Can’t Give Up” may be the best example of the excellent satirical lyricism and overall tone of the musical. With lyrics like “they also think that no means no but really no means yes” listeners are able to laugh at a mindset that is unfortunately true to many cishet white men who hold a lot of power. Craig and Trevor are such over the top caricatures of straight men that you can’t help but howl at their idiocy, which never lets up through the course of “D*cks: The Musical.” “You Can’t Give Up” plays like a classic musical theater inspiration song in the vein of “I Have Confidence” from “The Sound of Music,” while inspiring a comically terrible message. The complete absurdity of Craig and Trevors actions throughout the lyrics of the song is demonstrative of satire with a clear and focused point, that point being that straight white guys are absolute idiots.
The only break from complete insanity and outrageous stupidity in the album is Megan Thee Stallion’s “Out Alpha the Alpha.” This song puts the power in a woman’s hand who really hammers in how stupid Trevor, Craig and all men like them are. The song is a fabulously catchy and brilliant performance by Megan Thee Stallion. While the song was written new for the film and is in sharp contrast to the rest of the songs by not being satirical or ironic in any sense, the message of the song is still in alignment with the rest of the film, only in a direct sense this time. “Out Alpha the Alpha” is the song that audiences will have on repeat from the album.
Overall, “D*cks: The Musical” is a hilarious and raunchy musical for queer audiences who simply don’t give a f*ck. It is sure to be a cult classic, like if John Waters films were made for musical theater nerds. Give it a listen if you’re ready to be left in a state of absolute shock and laughing your pants off.