Do You Remember “ArtPrize! The Musical”?

Local comedy and burlesque troop Super Happy Funtime produced the musical ten years ago. It still holds up.

"ArtPrize! The Musical" Is A Satirical Look At The Annual Competition

The group came up with the musical parody of the annual art display and competition back in 2012, I assume after dealing with the thousands of tourists roaming aimlessly through our city streets in search of what they imagined to be "art".

The burlesque troop performed the show live at the Pyramid Scheme during ArtPrize that year. The event was clearly not sanctioned by ArtPrize. But maybe it should have been.

The songs about the search for art in Grand Rapids, the origins of ArtPrize, and the venues art was placed in, compared what usually went down in such places are weirdly wonderful and some will even stick in your head.

Let's Face It, ArtPrize Is A Little Weird, And It Deserves Weird Songs About It

Here's a couple of my favorites, and then I will link to their YouTube page so you can explore on your own.

Let's start with this little ditty called "It's Made Of Smaller Things", which is funny because it's true of every ArtPrize. There is always a big thing made up of smaller things, be it a giant Lincoln portrait made up of smaller pennies, or be it an eagle snaring a cobra, all of which are made up of smaller scrap parts, you never have to wander far at ArtPrize to see something "Made of Smaller Things."

Can we just stop at this point and appreciate that kick ass horn section? Thank you.

It's A Multi-Level Bar And It's A Venue: A Catchy Tune About The B.O.B.!

How did we manage to get along without the Big Old Building for an entire winter! Somehow, we muddled through, but thank God the BOB returned in time for ArtPrize. Or did it?

The beef with the BOB as a venue in the opening week of ArtPrize, was that the restaurants were closed, probably due to lack of employees, as tourists moped their way through the art there.

This tune, with a driving horn section is hard to get out of your head.

ArtPrize is an event that is uniquely Grand Rapids, so it will be with us for a long time, and now, thanks to the internet, so will ArtPrize! The Musical.