A crazy-eyed landlord struts around his apartment, plotting the death of whichever of his emotionally unstable tenants mistook his artistic masterpiece for common garbage, when a loud screech pierces the intimate theater. The audience jumps. The landlord rears in apparent surprise. The screech lasts for over five seconds. Finally, it stops. The landlord peers over his shoulder, toward the door and proclaims, "The doorbell!" The audiences erupts in laughter.

This is just one of several hilarious moments in the Sacramento Theatre Company's production of “The Musical of Musicals: The Musical!”

Written by Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart, “The Musical of Musicals” takes a single plot and applies it to five parodies of the modern musical.

The first vignette "Corn!" is based on the works of Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Jerry Lee plays Big Willy, a Midwest farm boy with an uncontrollable zeal for corn. His dilemma comes when he has to decide between traveling the world and saving his romantic interest, June (Jessica Goldman), from having to pay her rent. Not doing so will force June to marry Jitter, the sleazy landlord, played by Michael RJ Campbell. Martha O. Knight plays Mother Abby, the guiding inspiration for the solution to June's recurring rent problem in all five scenes.

The other vignettes parody the works of Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Kander and Ebb, respectively. Allusions are made to popular Broadway musicals such as “Sweeney Todd,” “Cats,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “Chicago.”

As an admitted tenderfoot to Broadway and musical theater in general, I should say that many of the references to the original material escaped me, but that didn't stop me from laughing out loud when Billy ripped Phantom Jitter’s mask from his face, only to reveal that he was, in fact, a cat! And not just any cat: a cat of many colors.

The closing scene was the strongest. A flamboyant Jütter demands rent from the saucy Juny, who is admonished by Fraulein Abby in dramatic song to simply sell her body. Juny takes her advice and offers, but the ambiguous Jütter swiftly refuses. All seems lost until Billy, Juny's former lover and newly self-discovered homosexual, gets out of jail and offers his own body to pay the rent. Jütter's response is immediate and enthusiastic, "Yaaawwww!" Once again, Billy saves the day.

This and the second vignette showcased the character's strengths more so than the leading "Corn!" For all the cheeriness in Rogers and Hammerstein's style, it was the twisted, dark realities of Sondheim, Kander and Ebb that gripped my attention the most.

The cast was well-balanced and executed their roles almost flawlessly. Campbell's theatrics and Lee's impeccable vocals converged on Knight's grace and Goldman's stage presence for an evening of laughs and memorable show-tune spoofs.

The show runs through Feb. 20 at STC's J. Arliss Pollock Stage at 1419 H St.

Ticket and show time information here.

Images courtesy of Sacramento Theatre Company