Cliff Richard. Johnny Hallyday. Heino. Every European country has a beloved wrinkly singer still wearing a pompadour. But Hungary’s Miklos Fenyo has a musical written about him, so he wins. Made in Hungaria tracks the story of Miki, a young Magyar whose parents return to 1950s Hungary after years in America and England, where Miki has discovered authentic rock ’n’ roll—a rarity in a country where stirring hymns about worker’s paradises are still the tops. Through production numbers set at picnics (much firehose-spraying) and pools (much bikini-bottom slapping), Miki shows his friends how to be cool, outwits the local party bigs, and wins the girl. It’s cute, and maybe even true—well, maybe not the part about the East German girls who strip to their slips when Miki pounds out some devil music, but definitely the police torture.
Made in Hungaria
9 p.m. on Friday, April 23; also on Saturday, April 24 at 7 p.m. Both showings at Avalon Theatre.