If you’ve ever felt personally victimized by the villainization of money-driven publicist Meredith Blake in Nancy Meyers’ “The Parent Trap,” look no further than “Ginger Twinsies,” a reimagining of the ’90s staple. In director Kevin Zak’s off-Broadway debut, niche pop culture references are spit out by the second as the cast reinforces that maybe the real antagonists were the twins who terrorized Meredith every step of the way.
The story follows identical twins Annie James (Russell Daniels) and Hallie Parker (Aneesa Folds), who meet by chance at summer camp and learn they’re related. They devise a plan to switch places in an attempt to reunite their divorced parents. However, their plan becomes complicated when the pair learns that their dad, Nick Parker (Matthew Wilkas) has a new fiancee, Meredith (Phillip Taratula).
Wilkas told WSN that Zak had been “obsessed” with “The Parent Trap” long before “Ginger Twinsies.” During the writers strikes in 2023, he put on a benefit reading of the original film script to raise money. From there, Zak began devising his parody of the script, which follows the same story but cheekily highlights a redemption arc, á la “Wicked,” for the once-perceived villain.
In “Ginger Twinsies,” Taratula gives Meredith a flamboyant, drag-queen-esque air, wearing her iconic hat during his RuPaul-style entrance. Taratula steals the stage every minute he appears, making it impossible not to root for the character.
“As a gay kid growing up, I was always so in love with the female villain characters,” Wilkas said, comparing Meredith’s re-imagined arc to the likenesses of “Maleficent” or “Cruella.”
Outside of the tongue-in-cheek jokes about the source material, Zak never misses a chance to poke fun at Nick nicknaming his daughter “little squirt.” From Jamie Lee Curtis acting as a spiritual guide for Annie and Hallie to “The Substance’s” Monstro Elisasue making a cameo that feels like a fever-dream, the show is chock-full of both ’90s nostalgia and current memes.
The cast pushes the envelope each night, adding in new bits to test its audiences. In a scene where Elizabeth James (Lakisha May) is intoxicatedly dancing with her butler, Martin (Jimmy Ray Bennett), May adds in moves inspired by Vivian Banks from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” She also recreates the symbolic character of the “bullet” in “Hamilton,” sending theater kids into fits of laughter each night.
“This is why I do live theater,” May told WSN. “You feel like a rock star when the audience is on the edge of their seats.”
Recreating the chaotic energy of sleepaway camp, “Ginger Twinsies” never takes itself seriously within its rotating cast and DIY-set design. A painted wooden plank halfway down the theater’s orchestra reads: “We couldn’t afford to make the scenery go further.” There’s a charismatic, lived-in energy to the whole play, especially with the small cast acting as multiple characters: May and Wilkas switch between acting as campers and the twins’ parents at incredible speed.
“We are actively running around and changing costumes so much that the time flies by really quickly,” Wilkas said. “You have to be on the whole time.”
The explosion of energy that is “Ginger Twinsies” proves that not all theater needs to be filled with heartfelt themes to be a worthwhile watch. Sometimes, all you need is a show to relive your childhood nostalgia while reclaiming your favorite campy villains.
“It’s hard to find shows that are purely for fun,” May said. “I feel like ‘Ginger Twinsies’ is filling that space perfectly. You’re here for the laughs. You’re not here to cry.”
However, it’s very possible that you’ll cry from laughter. “Ginger Twinsies” is running at the Orpheum Theater until Oct. 25. Tickets are available online.
Contact Amelia Knust at [email protected].
