Jenn Harris as Clarice Starling and David Garrison as Hannibal Lecter in "Silence! The Musical."

Theatre 80, 80 St. Marks Place NYC is the current home to the Off-Broadway hit, Silence! The Musical, which is a comedic parody based off of the Oscar award winning movie, The Silence of the Lambs. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie’s plot line, it’s about an FBI agent-in-training named Clarice Starling who is determined to become a full fledged agent. When Clarice’s superior tells her to go and psychoanalyze a former psychiatrist turned killer, she looks at it as a chance to prove herself. Her patient was to be Hannibal Lector, but they didn’t call him Hannibal the Cannibal for nothing. Jon and Al Kaplan, the composers/songwriters/writers of, Silence! The Musical succeeded in stripping down this physiological thrill story into a humorous and raunchy musical.

Songs such as “If I could smell her c***” and “Are you a size 14?” are extremely catchy and contain insultingly funny lyrics. One of the most entertaining aspects of this play though was the continual use of the breaking of the fourth wall. Under the direction of Director/ Choreographer Christopher Gatteli, actors Jenn Harris (Clarice Starling) and Jeff Hiller (Sgt.Pembry) did an excellent job of getting the audience to become more involved with the story. These actors were comfortable with commanding the stage and it clearly showed in their performances.

The stage may not be outfitted with an elaborate set, but the simplistic nature of the set is much more befitting because it allows audience members to fill in the rest with their imaginations. The musical has a showing time of around 2 hours and it should definitely not be viewed by children. This musical is a vibrant showcase of hilarity that will have you laughing from start to finish.