Brrr! It’s been so cold in New York, the tropical island in the new musical, Escape to Margaritaville at the Marquis Theater, is a vision of welcoming palm trees asway in a warm breeze. Who wouldn’t want to veg in Paradise, drink in hand, with hunks all around? But early on in this entertaining show of Jimmy Buffett’s greatest hits, you feel the grind for those who make it their life, dropouts like Tully (Paul Alexander Nolan) and his sidekick Brick (Eric Petersen), and Marley (Rema Webb) who owns the rundown resort where the guys serenade on guitar and tend bar, respectively. Serving the never ending ferry loads of vacationers sporting wide brim straw hats, Hawaiian shirts, and sandals, Tully for one has island fatigue when we meet him. Well, you know what they say about nirvana, it’s so boring. That is, until, and you can guess, a smart and snappy workaholic scientist named Rachel (Alison Luff) arrives with her best pal Tammy (Lisa Howard) who’s set for, not a fling but a flirt, on the eve of her wedding to the wrong guy.

Can you guess how this tale will end? Of course! And that’s what the creative team, book by Greg Garcia and Mike O’Malley from Buffett’s country/calypso music and lyrics, Kelly Devine’s choreography and Christopher Ashley’s direction, must be counting on. Singing audience favorites such as “Last Mango in Paris,” “License to Chill,” “My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink and I Don’t Love Jesus,” “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” “Why Don’t We Get Drunk (and Screw),” and “Margaritaville,” the company revels in what makes the jukebox musical its own special genre, wink winking as it delivers the music just as fans know and love it. While few Parrotheads were present for the matinee I attended (on St. Patrick’s Day), the audience stood and cheered at show’s end, a testament to the charms of “flip flop” philosophy, and Jimmy Buffett himself who may with this production have fulfilled his dream of making a musical of Herman Wouk’s Don’t Stop the Carnival for Broadway.

Regina Weinreich

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