Sure, having a healthy and active social life is cool, but have you ever stayed in on a Saturday night to watch SNL and seen Jake Gyllenhaal in full Mr. Music mode, hoisted into the air, singing about bending over and spreading his legs real wide because he enjoys having his cavity searched, to the tune of “Defying Gravity� No? You don’t know what you’re missing. In the proud tradition of “Diner Lobster†and “Bodega Bathroom,†SNL has pulled out all the stops for a John Mulaney musical extravaganza about extremely New York annoyances and gross phenomena. The LaGuardia Airport musical begins when Pete Davidson makes the very suspect decision to buy the sushi in the takeout fridge cabinet at an airport convenience store.
“One of the geese that took down Sully’s plane†(Kenan Thompson) sings a Phantom of the Opera duet with the sushi chef (Cecily Strong). Kate McKinnon wears an Annie wig and an Auntie Anne’s pretzel apron, a perfect marriage. There’s lots of old-fashioned, non-Van-Hove-ian West Side Story thrown in there, including Beck Bennett as an unaccompanied crying baby baddie. Bowen Yang sings a heartfelt ballad about being a “Profiled Asian†at the airport to the tune of “Suddenly Seymour.†David Byrne is the “baggage handler who tosses everyone’s suitcases into Long Island Sound.†John Mulaney’s strange, specific, New York City–themed musical numbers during his SNL stints are a case for the magic of live televised musicals as a genre. Long may he continue to have a platform to follow his very strange sensibilities to the ends of the earth.