“Take a ride you won't forget,
On my bicyclette;
Fast as lightning and so much more,
It's a traveling metaphor.”
These are the opening lines to the theme song for “The Bicycle Men,” a musical comedy opening in London soon.
The show stars Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson. In the musical he plays Steve, an American tourist who crashes his bike and “encounters the twisted inhabitants of a sinister French village,” according to the show notes at What's on Stage.
We're talking “depraved marionettes, creepy bicycle repairmen and oddball characters.” Sounds like a typical French village to me.
The Bicycle Men was written by Dave Lewman, Joe Liss, Mark Nutter and John Rubano. Members of these collaborators have worked at Second City in Chicago and worked on various TV shows, such as Third Rock from the Sun. Apparently the original idea came from Rubano, a passionate cyclist who owns 11 bikes.
The musical has been making the rounds in the US for a couple of years. It has played in Los Angeles, Chicago and at the New York International Fringe Festival. “The Bicycle Men” is scheduled to run from Nov. 6 – Dec. 2 at the King's Head Theatre.
Not having seen it, I can't vouch for it. I will admit to catching myself whistling the song, “Offal's Theme/Bicycle Metaphor,” which is available for sampling — along with the show's other songs — at CDBaby.
Let's hope it returns to the US for a longer run to places like Seattle.
“Its a symbol yes you bet,
That's my bicyclette;
It has meaning you can't ignore,
Not like bikes you have seen before,
It's a traveling metaphor…”
Here's a link directly to “Offal's Theme/Bicycle Metaphor.”
See also: “Voice of Homer Simpson makes debut on London's fringe,” Reuters Oct. 29
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