The Neighborhood Theatre Group (also known as NTG) is ending its 9th season with an off-the-wall and hilariously funny send-up of the always predictable Lifetime movies.

The original musical trauma comedy is called—take a breath, the title is long—The Stranger in My Breakfast Nook: A 90’s Lifetime Original Musical Parody, written by Kristin Anne Danko and Kylista Geiger. Geiger is the director and Danko, the founder of NTG, directs the music.

NTG’s minimalist approach to theater is a necessity in the tight confines of the Back Office Studio. Those limitations only add to the laughs. Another interesting quirk is something called the Tree County Universe—very Marvelish. The universe was created in 2019 and centers on the sister cities Shouting Oaks and Whispering Pines, home of the Silverspoon’s Serving Spoons, South North University, and a lot of trees.

The play opens with a nurse telling a couple that someone has stolen their newborn son. The mother becomes hysterical, the father seems dazed and confused. Who could have done such a terrible thing? (This must be a good year for stolen baby plays. Local productions of The Pirates of Penzance and The Importance of Being Earnest are also stolen baby plays.)

Geiger and Danko have a good feel for nonsense and a cast that seems to relish absurdity.

The real action begins 23 years after the baby’s abduction. The anxious parents now have a daughter who works at Shouting Oaks Pediatric Dentistry. A young man comes in to offer toys for the children and immediately falls deeply in love with the young women at the office, who is immediately deeply in love with him. Together they sing “I’m So Glad I Found You,” a catchy little tune that builds into a big stand-out production number—on a stage the size of a postcard (well, maybe a little bigger).

The lovestruck man has a brother, and they are also happy they found each other.

In a short span of time a lot happens, all of it pleasantly ridiculous. The mother of the lost child sings an over-the-top ode to her son, “When We Lost Andrew,” and we learn that the mother hates nurses. The brothers’ mom is a nurse. Will this be a problem?

It really wouldn’t be fair to give away the mystery, the tension, the emotional agony so beloved of Lifetime devotees. Fortunately, all of that is trashed in favor of the battle of two mothers. It also wouldn’t be good to give away the jokes, the poses, and what the title means. Also, some serious attention is paid to the dangers of microfiche.

The cast seems to be enjoying the show, and their enjoyment is infectious for the audience.

Laura Mandernack plays Judith Dusktildon, the long-grieving mother, plaintive singer, and dramatic poser. Jessica Lee plays Meredith Miller, the other mother who has some ideas of her own, a heavy secret, and also a song of her own. Graham Bennett plays the clueless but loving Milton Dusktildon, who warns about the dangers of microfiche. The Miller brothers of totally different mothers are played slyly by Cole Hunter Dzubak as Mat, the instant lover, and DelShawn Akpan as Tedd Miller, who yearns for love. Lexxus Glaze plays the charming Andrea Dusktildon, another instant lover with a strange way of communicating with her parents. Andrea Evans plays Margeaux, Andrea’s best friend, who also yearns for love.

The show only lasts an hour, but the NTG gang is able to jam in a lot of laughs in a short amount of time. The Stranger in my Breakfast Nook is a little bit of Lifetime mixed with a lot of Saturday Night Live, and for those who like to laugh, Shouting Oaks and Whispering Pines will continue to be a good place to visit.

Hugh Gallagher has written theater and film reviews over a 40-year newspaper career and was most recently the managing editor of the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers in suburban Detroit. 

The NTG production of “The Stranger in my Breakfast Nook” continues through May 18 at The Back Office Studio, 13 North Washington Street, Ypsilanti. For tickets, showtimes, and more information, go to ntgypsi.org.