In 'Dicks: The Musical' 'SNL' star Bowen Yang embraces a 'petty, messy' God
The next great cult classic movie might be this one, with identical twins, an eccentric mom and dad, a domineering lady boss, a flying vagina, sewer creatures and the Almighty.
“Dicks: The Musical” (in theaters nationwide Friday) is a polarizing, saucy and R-rated spin on “The Parent Trap” with F-bombs galore. It's "offensive, but also absurd and broad and silly,” says Josh Sharp, who writes and co-stars with Aaron Jackson. “Movies like this don't get made anymore."
Director Larry Charles’ musical comedy centers on Craig (Sharp) and Trevor (Jackson), two macho vacuum-parts salesmen who learn they’re long-lost brothers and seek to reunite their divorced parents, adventurously gay Harris (Nathan Lane) and tchotchke-collecting oddball Evelyn (Megan Mullally). Rapper Megan Thee Stallion plays Gloria, the guys' money-loving manager, and “Saturday Night Live” regular Bowen Yang plays the narrator, God himself, who plans to include what Sharp calls “this insane story” in the Bible. “It's just sort of the dumbest thing we could do.”
Are you prepared for “Dicks”? Here’s what to expect from the year’s most bizarre musical:
‘Dicks’ originated in the New York comedy scene
Sharp and Jackson’s original two-man, 30-minute, way-off-Broadway show was born at Manhattan’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in the 2010s. Back then, “the stakes were low,” Sharp says. "It really felt like we were (messing) around and nobody was watching.” Yang adds that he saw it “multiple times" and the show "became this touch point for a lot of queer comedians in the city.”
Jackson says they lost money on the show but by turning it into a movie – a much bigger lift – “we did get paid.” Sharp jokes: “I bought a boat for each of my six beautiful daughters.”
Bowen Yang plays the God of ‘Dicks’ as ‘a petulant gay guy in hot pants’
Bowen’s God is an omniscient narrator who ultimately becomes a part of the story, has several "fabulous" costume changes and is part of the big finale. “He’s just kind of observing, going 'That was fierce. Let's keep going,’” Yang says. Seeking an addendum to the Bible is “such a clever, simple, elegant way to make his presence have some stake to it.”
Yang definitely had a different take on the role, in contrast to actors like Morgan Freeman and Alanis Morissette. “There's an interpretation of God that people are afraid to sort of externalize, where he is this petty, messy deity," Yang says. "If he doesn't like something, then he'll flood the Earth or make it rain frogs, these really campy, gay things. And so, of course, he's this petulant gay guy in hot pants."
Bowen Yang on 'SNL':'Fuel up, do more' to fight racism against Asian Americans
Look out, Hollywood, here come the Sewer Boys
Everything from “The Rocky Horror Show” and “Book of Mormon” to old Gene Kelly musicals were influences. But Jackson looked to “Gremlins,” “The Dark Crystal” and “those ‘80s movies with very handheld, tactile, nasty little creatures” as inspirations for the Sewer Boys, Harris' little live-in beasties. That brought a throwaway joke in the original show to diaper-clad life in the film.
Sharp recalls when Lane first read in the script that their names were, inexplicably, Backpack and Whisper, he laughed for five minutes straight at the absurdity. “If you think that's funny, this film is for you. And if you don't, it's not for you,” Sharp says. “Go home and watch 12 hours of ‘Blue Bloods.’”
Megan Thee Stallion ruling the Oscar stage? 'Dicks' could make that happen
The conversation gets rowdy when awards season comes up: “Best actress for me and Aaron?” Sharp asks. “Do the Oscars still do Best Gay Guy Comedy Duo?” Yet “Dicks” has a legitimate shot at the best original song with its catchy, often ribald show tunes. Sharp wouldn’t mind seeing a nomination for Lane and Mullally’s heartfelt ballad “Lonely,” “which was a joke to us that in the middle of this gonzo film, you'd sort of have three minutes where you're like, ‘Oh my God, I sort of care for these people.’”
But we're all for potentially seeing Megan Thee Stallion strut and twerk at the Oscars doing her movie showstopper, “Out-Alpha the Alpha.” “She was very down to clown,” Sharp adds. “She came in the first day when we met her and she was like, ‘You know, people know I'm dirty, but y'all are dirty.’ ”
Musical creators hope 'Dicks' lets people find their 'tribe'
As "Dicks" goes wide, chances are conservatives and religious folk won't love the lyrics of the finale number "All Love Is Love" – especially with the use of a certain gay slur in the chorus. What Jackson's more interested in is "if it will make $1 or $2 billion," he says with a laugh.
"Honestly, in making this movie, we're only thinking about the people who get it and not the people who wouldn't," Sharp adds. "It's nice that you can find your tribe of comedy weirdos and queer people and outrageous people and fans of musicals and people drawn to the audacious.
"There's so many movies that are even wildly popular that are no one's favorite movie. So the idea that we could make someone's favorite movie is fun."