Musical revue for moms and dads has fun with familiar family topics

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

So I took my cousin Kristine from Kinnelon, NJ, to see the new musical “Rated P for Parenthood,” which opened on Wednesday at the Westside Theatre.

Since “Rated P for Parenthood” offers songs and skits about raising kids, and I am but a clueless uncle (at best), I figured that Kris’ current experiences as a mom dealing with two young girls would be helpful in determining the validity of the entertainment.

Somewhere early in the show, between the funny bit about responding to a tyke’s query on “how did a baby get into mommy’s tummy?” and a gentle song concerning a daughter’s very first day of school, Kris whispered to me, “This is my life.”

Scampering along at a quick 85 minutes, “Rated P for Parenthood” begins with birth and runs through packing the kids off to college.

2 a.m. feedings, overbearing in-laws, pink eye, dads bonding on the playground, thumb sucking, the tooth fairy, the hunky soccer coach, homework and similar kids-related stuff are among the familiar parental topics treated lightly for lots of laughter. Some of Sandy Rustin’s material seems generic, but a segment about gay dads supervising their triplet sons’ internet browsing is surprisingly fresh.

Dan Lipton and David Rossmer composed the more rocking than not tunes. A comical hip-hop treatment of a parent-teacher conference and a wildly operatic depiction of a mom teaching her son to drive are among their upbeat score’s highlights.