Faking Bad (musical)

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Say My Name! (Musical)
)
Faking Bad
The Unauthorised 'Breaking Bad' Parody Methsical
MusicRob Gathercole
LyricsRob Gathercole
Book
Rob Gathercole
SettingAlbuquerque, New Mexico 2008–10
BasisBreaking Bad
by Vince Gilligan
PremiereOctober 14, 2018: Theater N16, London, England
Productions2018 London
2023 London

Faking Bad: The Unauthorized 'Breaking Bad' Parody Methsical[1] (previously known as Say My Name!) is a 2018 parody musical with music, lyrics and book by Rob Gathercole based on AMC's Breaking Bad created by Vince Gilligan. The story shows down-on-his-luck father and chemistry teacher, Walter White's descent into the world of drug dealing as he becomes the feared druglord "Heisenberg". The musical condenses the entire plot of Breaking Bad down to approximately 90 minutes with a heightened sense of camp and satire. Production began in 2018 when Gathercole created a Kickstarter to help fund the project and raised £1,877 of the £1,500 goal.

The production was met with generally positive reviews with most reviewers commenting on Gathercole's writing.

Synopsis

Season 1

In the middle of the desert, awaiting his arrest,

Gretchen Schwartz
for help with the costs. Walt is initially hesitant due to their poor history but eventually comes around to the idea. (Honesty) Hank explains the importance of the DEA and their role in society. (D.E.A)

Season 2

A few weeks later Walt and Jesse are kidnapped by their psychotic distributor,

Ted Beneke. (Honesty [Reprise 2]) A few weeks later Saul sets up a meeting between Walt and high-end distributor Gus Fring who also runs the Los Pollos Hermanos
restaurant chain. Gus decides to let Walt cook meth for him. (Don't Be a Chicken) Later at night, Walt breaks into Jesse's house and finds Jane overdosing. Walt decides not to help her as he fears his control over Jesse is loosening due to his relationship. (Should I Help Her?) Skyler discovers Walt's second cell phone and thinks he's dealing marijuana. When she confronts him over this, he is disappointed she would think so low of him, and he reveals he has instead been dealing meth. Walt and Skyler divorce. (I Think My Husband's Been Dealing...)

Season 3

A mariachi band explains the entirety of the third season. Walt gets a new lab partner,

Tuco's cousins
but he manages to kill them instead, becoming paralyzed in the process. Jesse finds out some of the people working under Gus use children to sell meth so Walt kills them, enraging Gus. Gus threatens to kill Walt and Jesse but Jesse kills Gale, ensuring their continued partnership with Gus (Season Three)

Season 4

Walt's family visits Hank for dinner and Hank reveals he has started a mineral collection, much to the dismay of the other characters. (Minerals #1) At the dinner, Walt implies that Heisenberg may still be alive when Hank tells him they suspect Gale. Skyler gets mad at Walt and implies he is scared and wants to get caught. Enraged, Walt egotistically tells her that he should not fear danger but that he has so much power others should fear him instead. (Danger) Gus kills all the higher-ups of the Mexican cartel and plans on visiting Hector to kill him too. (Don't Be a Chicken [Reprise 1]) As the ensemble begins singing about Walt giving up, Walt shuts them up and tells them that Walter White is dead and to refer to him as Heisenberg from now on. (The Ballad of Walter White [Reprise 2]) Walt meets with Hector and they create a plan to kill Gus. Hector will go to the DEA forcing Gus to investigate. When Gus visits Hector he will use his bell to set off a bomb strapped to the wheelchair, killing Gus and Hector in the process. (The Chicken Man) Their plan goes exactly as expected and Gus is killed. Walt and Jesse celebrate their victory over Gus. (Don't Be a Chicken [Reprise 2])

Season 5A

Walt and Jesse convince one of Gus' men,

Lydia Rodarte-Quayle
. Lydia gladly gives the names to Walt and Walt briefly debates killing them before going ahead with it. (Should I Kill Them?) Walt is confronted by Skyler who begs him to leave the business in return for fixing their family. Walt finally decides to give up and retires from cooking meth. (Honesty [Reprise 3])

Season 5B

At Walt's house, Hank accidentally discovers Walt is Heisenberg when he reads a book Walt received from Gale. Hank confronts Walt over this but Walt completely denies his allegations. He says that his cancer has returned meaning Hank wouldn't even have someone to catch if he pursued him. Hank doesn't care and still chooses to pursue this lead. (Hank and Walt) Hank brings Jesse in for investigation but Jesse refuses to talk. Hank threatens to begin singing about minerals which causes Jesse to confess immediately. (Minerals #2) Hank tricks Walt into going to the desert where he can arrest him but the neo-Nazi group Walt used to kill Gus' men follow him out. Walt begs for

Jack Welker
, the leader of the group, to spare Hank's life in exchange for the $8 million Walt has in the desert. Hank refuses to accept so Jack allows Hank to speak his final words, his mineral song, before shooting him. (Minerals #3) Walt is forced to gain a new identity and move to New Hampshire to avoid arrest. After some months, Walt sees Elliot and Gretchen on a TV claiming Walt had very little to do with the founding of Grey Matter, enraging Walt. He also finds out Jack's gang has yet to kill Jesse and are using him to cook meth, convincing him to return to Albuquerque. Walt first visits the Schwartzes and forces them to give his son $9 million with the alternative being death. Walt next visits his family to say goodbye. Skyler begs Walt to not say he did it for his family and Walt admits he did it all for his own enjoyment. Finally, Walt goes to Jack to rescue Jesse. When Walt inquires why Jack even needs the money he says he wishes to run for president of the United States. Jack threatens to kill Walt but Walt requests that he can play his guitar one last time. (Final Sequence) While playing the guitar Walt and Jesse telepathically communicate and Walt tells Jesse to duck on his command. When he finishes playing Walt reveals the guitar is actually an activator for a mounted gun that kills the neo-Nazis, fatally injuring Walt in the process. (Walt's Guitar Solo/The Killing of the Nazis) Walt solemnly sings about chemistry before succumbing to his injuries. The ensemble return to question if he was good or bad, ending on the note that inside we are all like Walter White to some extent. (Chemistry/The Ballad of Walter White)

Roles and principal cast

Theater N16 (2018) Turbine Theater (2023)
Character Actor[2] Character Actor[3]
Walter White Matt Tweddle Walter White Richard Costello
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle
Olivia Warren Skyler/Gus/Others Natalie Winsor
Gustavo Fring
Edward Hole
Gretchen
/Others
Nikki Biddington
Hank Schrader/Others Scott Brooks Saul/Hank/Others Rob Gathercole
Jesse Pinkman/Gretchen Schwartz Rebecca Levy
Saul Goodman/Others Rob Gathercole

Musical numbers

Keys

  • ‡ Cast Recording Only

Recordings

A cast recording was released on streaming platforms on 2 November 2019[4] and also as a physical release for sale at the official Breaking Bad Store in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[5] The cast recording contained two extra songs, a song detailing the events of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and another song of Hank listing various names with the initials W.W.

Reception

Critical reception

In its first showing in London, Say My Name was met with generally positive reviews with most reviewers commenting on the humor of Gathercole's writing. Lani Calvert of musicaltheatrereview.com called it "an excellent addition to London’s Fringe theatre scene"

of color with actors of color.[10]

References

  1. ^ Wild, Stephi. "Photos: First Look at FAKING BAD Parody Musical at the Turbine Theatre". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  2. ^ "Say My Name! - The Unauthorised 'Breaking Bad' Parody Musical (Original Cast Recording), by Original Cast". Rob Gathercole. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  3. ^ "Introducing the cast of Faking Bad!". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  4. ^ "SAY MY NAME!". rob-gathercole. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  5. ^ "Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  6. ^ Calvert, Lani (31 October 2018). "Musical Theatre Review". Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  7. ^ "Say My Name! – The Unauthorised 'Breaking Bad' Parody Musical". LondonTheatre1. 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  8. ^ "Say My Name: The Unauthorised Breaking Bad Musical Review". Musical Theatre Musings. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  9. ^ "Say My Name - Theatre N16, London". northwestend.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  10. ^ Finch, Alex (2018-10-16). "Live Review: Say My Name". Comedy To Watch. Retrieved 2022-06-21.

External links