Putting an end to Broadway, once and for all.
“Broadway Bro Down” is a parody of musical theater and commentary about being the new guy, the outsider, in the Broadway world.
At least, that’s part of it. If I didn’t know that Trey Parker and Matt Stone were the creators of a Tony Award winning musical, I might assume that “Broadway Bro Down” was little more than an excuse to talk about oral sex for a half an hour. The episode itself is all about “subtext” within musicals, but I can’t help feeling like the subtext within “Broadway Bro Down” flew right over my head.
“Broadway Bro Down” begins with Randy Marsh discovering a secret about musicals. He learns that if you take your wife/girlfriend to a show, it’s pretty much guaranteed that she is going to perform oral sex on you afterward. All musicals feature subliminal messages, “subtext” if you will, that encourages – hell, mandates – the performance of oral sex.
Desperate for BJs, as it were, Randy takes Sharon to see Wicked in Denver, and lo and behold, the secret turns out to be true. With neither party satisfied after just one show, Randy takes Sharon to New York and they embark on a whirlwind trip around Broadway, seeing every show. And Randy gets… what he seeks, let us say.
Having seen all of the shows in New York and Denver, Randy isn’t ready for the BJ train to stop just yet. So he decides to put on his own musical in South Park. But his show – which I’m sadly scared to put on the open Internet — violates the cardinal rule of Broadway. He turns “subtext” (oral sex) into “actual text” (also oral sex). His cavalier attitude toward show business attracts Broadway bigwigs Andrew Lloyd Weber, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, and Elton John to town. They must put a stop to Randy’s show before the secret gets out and musical theater is ruined for everyone.
Elton, Andrew, and the two Stephens are portrayed as “bros” who hang out at Hooters and drink beer. I assume that this is a way for Trey Parker and Matt Stone to turn the perception of theater people as “feminine” on its ear. But, again, I’m not completely sure exactly what point the jokes are supposed to be making.
Randy’s love of the theater (and oral sex) is suddenly halted when he gets word that his daughter Shelly is going to see Wicked with “her little boyfriend”, Larry Feegan. Apparently, what’s good for the goose isn’t always good for the gander, at least when your daughter is involved. Randy can’t bear the thought of Shelly getting intimate, shall we say, with little Larry after the show, so he races down to the theater to “put and end to Broadway, once and for all.”
He throws on a Spiderman costume — a thinly veiled allusion to Turn Off The Dark, I presume — and proceeds to swing through the theater on a cable trashing the place. Ultimately, he puts and ends the show, as well as Larry’s life.
“Broadway Bro Down” ends on an up-note, however. Randy comes clean to Sharon about his reason for taking her to all of those musicals. Initially, Sharon is disgusted, but she forgives Randy soon enough. She realizes that they both got something out of their trips to the theater. She got a great night out with her husband, and he got… what he sought. It’s a win-win scenario.
Some stats and info about South Park, “Broadway Bro Down”
TV SHOW – South Park
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 15, Episode 11
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Comedy Central
GENRE – Comedy, Animated Shows
CREATED BY – Trey Parker, Matt Stone
This review was originally published on TV Geek Army.