“Duck Dynasty's” Willie Robertson, center, and his wife Korie talk with Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., before President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Willie Robertson, his wife Korie Robertson, Missy Robertson and her husband Jase Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” arrive at the BMI Country Awards on Nov. 5, 2013, in Nashville.
The quack attack is upon us. “Duck Commander Musical” has opened at Crown Theater in the Rio. The oddly matched musical features the family famous on A&E’s reality-TV series “Duck Dynasty” and is based on Willie and Korie Robertson’s book, “The Duck Commander Family — How Faith, Family and Ducks Built a Dynasty.” The show produced by the Broadway heavyweights with Dodgers Theatrical had its premiere Wednesday night at the Rio.
The show has been met with a high measure of curiosity and even dismissal before it has had a chance to be staged. It’s a funny fit, this deep South family and the slick Broadway company staging their story. Questions percolate as the Robertsons, whose patriarch, Phil, build a multimillion-dollar dynasty with the Duck Commander hunting call, take aim at Las Vegas.
Some questions, answered summarily, about the show and its family:
Is Phil Robertson a distraction to the musical?
Yes, in the sense that the family has had to answer for Phil ever since his anti-homosexual statements comparing the gay lifestyle to bestiality, were published in GQ magazine in December 2013 (he was suspended by A&E for nine days as a result). Robertson has since waved a family Bible at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 27, saying that STDs were “the revenge of the hippies! Sex, drugs and rock and roll have come back to haunt us in a bad way.”
As Willie Robertson says, “Sometimes I wait for the next text to see what he’s said, but Phil is Phil and speaks his mind. You should have seen my grandfather (laughs). He was more outspoken than Phil. But we have relationships with many gay people involved in this musical, and if we are anti-homosexual, we have a funny way of showing it.”
Has Phil been formally involved in the writing of the show?
No.
Will his comments be addressed in the storyline?
Yes. “We put it out there in a way that shows how we really dealt with it as a family,” Willie said, adding that the conversation was being updated even as rehearsals began in Las Vegas. “We couldn’t ignore what was going on because it had an effect on our lives and on our show.”
How close was director Jeff Calhoun, who is gay, to leaving the production?
Very. In the aftermath of Phil Robertson’s comments to GQ, which Calhoun deemed “deplorable,” he contacted Willie, who cut short plans for a hunting trip to visit Calhoun in his apartment in New York.
“He was in our living room, with me and my husband, and I asked him, ‘How do I answer questions from my friends when they ask about making money off bigotry?’ ” Calhoun said in a phone interview in March as the show started rehearsals at the Rio. “He told me the opposite was true, the family had actually lost sponsors, viewership was down for the TV show, and they had taken a financial hit. When I asked him if the family agreed with what Phil was doing, he said, ‘Absolutely not,’ and 20 minutes after we talked was booked to be on ‘Hannity’ on Fox to say that Phil was not the family spokesman. … Our relationship has grown ever since then, and I would not be working on this show if I thought they were nothing less than good, loving people.”
What is the show’s statistical chance of success?
Seventy-five percent of all new musicals close within the first six months.
How is the show different from the ill-fated “Pawn Stars Live” production based on “Pawn Stars” that failed at Golden Nugget, then Riviera, last year?
In a word: investment. “Duck Commander Musical” is backed by Dodgers Theatrical, which produces “Jersey Boys” at the Paris, on Broadway and on tour and, previously, “The Who’s Tommy.” The company is a major Broadway production machine. The theater has been redesigned with video panels and a half-in-the-round seating configuration and top-level talent onstage and off. “Duck Commander” features 11 actors and a live band.
What is the Crown Theater seating capacity for “Duck Commander Musical?”
About 650 to 700.
How is Crown Theater noteworthy other than as the home for “Duck Commander Musical?”
It was the stage for the first $100 ticket for a headliner in Las Vegas, when Danny Gans’ tickets climbed to that level in 1999. It also is where Prince performed his Las Vegas residence in 2006-2007 and also, earlier, where David Cassidy and Sheena Easton co-starred (and co-existed, barely) in “At the Copa.”
What is the most daunting challenge facing the musical in Las Vegas?
Luring fans of the show, who are not at all typical of musical theater devotees, to a Broadway-styled musical at a Las Vegas hotel-casino. One numbing comparison is a similarly expensive production based on the music of The Beach Boys, “Surf the Musical,” which was impressive musically and in its stage presentation and couldn’t surpass 100 sold tickets a night at Planet Hollywood. But still, as producer Michael David says, “The power of this story will resonate with anyone who sees the show. It is a great, all-American story, and it will appeal to a broad audience.”
The show’s score is said to be very good. Is it?
Yes. It’s a show that will need to build familiarity in its all-originals soundtrack, but in particular the song “Camouflage” could be a county-radio hit. Composers Robert and Steven Morris (identical twins) and Joe Shane have created a catchy-kitschy lineup of songs that are hooky, fun and carry the family’s story.
And what is that story?
“Duck Commander Musical” is the tale of the family’s duck-call empire rooted in Louisiana. It’s a story about how that empire led to the development of this musical — a musical about itself, in other words.
How is Joe Shane connected to Las Vegas?
His brother is Las Vegas lounge singer/pianist Michael Shane.
Is the “Duck Commander” team worried about the TV show’s declining ratings?
The bloom has fallen from the show somewhat, as the ratings this season dropped from 12 million in 2014 to about 8 million in the season premiere. But Willie Robertson says the musical can stand on its own, independent of the TV show’s success or lack thereof.
“I know that when I have tried to walk through casinos in Las Vegas, when I have been out here previously, I am constantly stopped. We are well-known, and we have a great story to tell that is real, and it’s genuine. We are genuine people.”
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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