In Mickey Gooch Jr.’s hilariously kooky new comedy Silverback Mountain, two gay boyfriends from New York City take an impromptu vacation to Uganda to watch gorillas in their natural habitat.  Just before they head off to the airport, one of the characters asks, “What’s the worst that could happen?”  Oh, Mary! Where do we start?…

Now playing at Manhattan’s AMT Theater and directed by Sam Lafrage, Silverback Mountain is flashy, colorful, lively, over-the-top, and VERY gay!  If you need some initial proof: The musical opens with a song called Why Are You Gey?  and concludes with the ultimate happy ending: a long-overdue wedding between our two main characters.  In between, there Celine Dion jokes, sexy dancing gorillas, a secret village of queer people who worship Wendy Williams, and enough pop culture reference for the 19th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race (I love the James Charles reference!).  Who could ask for anything more?

Silverback Mountain opens in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen (How meta!…) at a popular “gay diner”, where Lucas (played by Gooch) and his 20-something friend Marty (Walker Stovall) are deciding what to order while Lucas talks about his fear of commitment to his emotional boyfriend Andy. The diner is ruled by the snappy, no-nonsense Miss Jackson (Star Amerasu, who’s fabulous) who knows how to serve the tea, green or otherwise.  Sure enough, the two men are soon joined by Andy (Joe Regelbrugge), who makes his way to the stage complete with a Sunset Blvd-esque entrance.  Turns out, Andy is frustrated at work and is in need of a vacation.  When Palm Springs is shot down as a destination choice, Andy suggests something that he has always wanted to do: See gorillas in their natural habitat: “Just like Sigourney Weaver in ‘Gorillas in the Mist’!” Knowing the danger of being gay in Uganda, the pair decide to “play it straight”– although they narrowly escape get “outed” during Customs.  Fast forward to Africa, and the pair’s patience is rewarded when they finally see the gorillas.  (Make no mistake, you’ll never see gorillas as fabulous as you’ll see in Silverback Mountain!) Andy and Lucas celebrate with an innocent kiss.  But no sooner than you can say “Let’s bungle in the jungle”, the pair get busted.  Andy escapes while Lucas gets whisked away to “Gay Jail” (“It’s like jail, but gay!”, one of the characters explains.), where one of the inhabitants is a booty-shorts wearing human rights activist named Kai (Played perfectly by Jason Yanto).  Andy, meanwhile, discovers the titular “Silverback Mountain”, a legendary safe haven for queer people run by Tumaini, a lesbian who’s the kind of person you’d DEFINTELY want on your side if there was an apocalypse, zombie or otherwise.  She’s a force to be reckoned with– and the character is made even more powerful by Olamide Asanpaolo’s commanding performance. The new family sets out to liberate the Gay Jail. Meanwhile, Miss Jackson and Marty head over to the Pearl of Africa to help their fellow Hell’s Kitchen family…  

The treatment of LGBTQ’s in Uganda is indisputably a serious issue which, thankfully, has not gone overlooked by human rights activists worldwide.  But Silverback Mountain is ANYTHING but serious.  This is a bona fide comedy. The show has the zaniness and unapologetically campy queerness of the movies of John Waters and Pedro Almodovar, starting with the early scenes set in New York City.  It may be tempting to label the characters as nothing more than caricatures: Andy, the “drama queen”; Lucas, his “butch-adjacent” boyfriend; Marty, the scatterbrained “twink”; and Miss Jackson, the fierce transwoman. But any member of NYC’s LGBTQ community would be hard-pressed NOT to know people in their circle like these four. When the action switches to Uganda, the characters are no less wild: As Mamadu, Leo Jasper Davis has many of the funniest lines in the play, including one zinger which the audience really loved.  As Mustafa, Samuel Selman is an expert at comedy.  In fact, all eight actors excel at being funny, and all of them look like they are having as much fun as the audience.  Silverback Mountain also benefits from some nicely creative choices of lighting, visuals, and video projections. Intentionally or not, the production really comes off as an immersive experience. This jungle is jumpin’!

Silverback Mountain is a romp through the most fabulous jungle you’ll ever find!  One warning: Be prepared to explain what “gooning” is to your more, ahem, “vanilla” friends…

Silverback Mountain continues at the AMT Theater, 354 West 45th Street, New York City through Sunday, June 28.  For tickets and more information, visit here.