
RSTC impresses guy who doesn’t like musicals
By Jake Tiger
I’ve never been the biggest fan of musicals. I’ve actively avoided them, to be perfectly honest.
However, when I heard about the Rider Student Theatre Company’s latest production, “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals,” something dormant within me sputtered to life. I had to see this musical.
I always found musical theater to be too tropey and predictable, even having seen only a handful of productions in my life. “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” does not stray away from these conventions; instead, it ribs them in a way that I quite enjoyed.
The production parodied the musical genre and its cultish following as a sort of zombie apocalypse breaks out, turning most people in the town of Hatchetfield into flesh-devouring thespians.
The titular “guy,” Paul, played by freshman public relations major Vincent Piraino, wards off the plague with his unbreaking disdain for musical theater. Piraino’s portrayal of Paul was fantastic, and it was one I connected with in the deepest parts of my soul, despite the character being intentionally unremarkable.
Early on, Paul says to a musical-loving coworker, “I’d rather do anything than go see ‘Mamma Mia.’ The idea of sitting there trapped in a musical… That is my own personal hell.”
Paul is just like me.
Finally, someone voiced what I had been too scared to admit my entire life, fearing that my truths would cause those around me to sing and barrel turn and rip my limbs off. Unlike Paul, I am too young and cowardly to be the martyr this world needs.
I started relating to Paul the moment the curtains were drawn, as the musical begins with an introductory song by a group of infected townsfolk who grovel about how unbelievable it is that Paul hates musicals: “He doesn’t like musicals? What should we do with him? Should we kill him?”
My Rider News colleagues were actually asking each other these same questions when I pitched this review to them and revealed my apathy toward musical theater. Never in my life have I seen people turn on me so fast.

Photo by Hailey Tedesco
When I wasn’t commiserating with Paul, the audience and I giggled through witty, often raunchy lyrics and dialogue delivered by a talented and versatile cast. There were times where the humor seemed to rely a bit too much on vulgarity, but those instances hardly detracted from the experience as a whole.
At the climax of the show, Paul makes his way to the source of the outbreak, a local theater where a meteor crashed. Paul tries to push through the horde, but the infected people finally start getting to him.
Paul, who abstained from any singing or dancing up to that point, suddenly repels the horde by unleashing a beautiful, squeaky-clean falsetto that would have sent natural disaster alerts to every wine glass in a 10-mile radius.
The decision to save Piraino’s vocal talent for the very end was shocking and incredibly effective.
Paul lobs a grenade at the meteor and seems to save the day, but the show ends with a Paul-led song, revealing that he, too, was taken by the infection. Rest in peace, Paul; your righteous actions will not be forgotten.
Junior acting major Ava Hojnowski directed the performance, and standouts on stage included freshman musical theater major Natalie Beasley, freshman musical theater major Finn Alexander and freshman musical theater major Libby Phillips, who each played multiple roles.
Before anyone asks, no, the show didn’t change my mind about the genre, but as a guy who doesn’t like musicals, I’m relieved to say I’m glad I made it to this one.
Jake Tiger is a senior journalism major