John Dewar (Sergei Schmearnov), Matt Wolfe (Howard Katz), Murray Finkel (Jared Michael Brown), Nick DeSantis (Yengenyi Onanov). Photo by Jay Koh. Property of Village Theatre.

Iron Curtain may be one of the funniest musicals you’ve never seen.  Luckily you can remedy that, by going to see the production currently playing at the Village Theatre in Issaquah.  Iron Curtain is about Howard Katz and Murray Finkel, an unsuccessful Broadway musical writing duo, who are kidnapped by the Soviets and taken to Moscow, where they are forced to revise the worst musical ever conceived and make it good enough to be used for Communist propaganda.  With a book by Susan DiLallo and music by Stephen Weiner (the duo behind Once Upon a Time in New Jersey, which played at the Village a few years ago), and lyrics by rising star Peter Mills, Iron Curtain is one of the most hilarious, witty and original new musicals to come along in years.

I first saw Iron Curtain as a reading in the Village Originals Festival of New Musicals a few years ago.  Later that week, I went to see a fully staged production of Young Frankenstein (based on the movie by the legendary Mel Brooks) at the Paramount Theatre featuring Sutton Foster and Megan Mullally.  Even in its unfinished state, Iron Curtain was a better musical.  So, I was thrilled to be invited to see a more polished, revised Iron Curtain on opening night at the Village Theatre.

This production of Iron Curtain features many talented local actors, including Nick DeSantis and the incomparable Bobbi Kotula.  Kotula, magnificent as always, steals the show as Hildret Heinz, an East German political officer and dominatrix.  The hilarious DeSantis plays Yengenyi Onanov, the Soviet bureaucrat in charge of the musical.  John Dewar is stellar as a lovably evil KGB agent.  Jared Michael Brown’s voice soared beautifully as the irrepressible Murray, while Matt Wolfe was the perfect straight man as the hapless and hopeless Howard.  Carolyn Magoon is terrific as Shirley Dooley, Howard’s sweetheart, and it is their traditional romantic relationship that grounds the show and prevents it from going over the top with the rest of the zany cast.

I really only have two minor criticisms of the show.  The Eastern European accents of some of the characters occasionally obscured Mills’ lyrics, which were so brilliant and clever that I didn’t want to miss a word.  I also felt that although the whirlwind, wrap-everything-up-in-a-neat-package ending was inspired by similar endings in old musicals and movies, it tried a bit too hard to mimic those shows and was a little unsatisfying.  However, I loved the big song and dance finale replete with glittering costumes and shiny lights, so I could easily overlook that.

Don’t miss Iron Curtain.  The book, music and lyrics are hysterically clever and original, and the cast is excellent.  Iron Curtain is playing at the Village Theatre now through April 24, 2011, before moving to the Everett Performing Arts Center where it will run from April 29 through May 22, 2011.