The Office: Andy's Play

Who can you count on to spend their Friday night at your amateur production of Sweeney Todd? Maybe your parents, maybe your spouse, and maybe your best friend in the whole wide world. Maybe. But definitely not your coworkers – unless you work at Dunder Mifflin.

Last night’s episode saw 18^th-century drama meet 21^st-century business savvy when Andy and the cast of Scranton’s latest off-Broadway production sashayed into the office to do some “viral marketing.” We’ve noticed that more than half of this season’s episodes have featured musical numbers, and although two out of three isn’t a huge number, we hope this ratio doesn’t persist throughout the entire season. The novelty is fading fast.

Andy hopes this preview will tempt his coworkers to come see him perform in Sweeney Todd, but (shockingly) they’re not excited about watching an amateur performer in an amateur production. Who can blame them? They’ve had to endure his office a capella too many times already. However, the entire staff shows up to the theater to support Andy, and now we have to question the writers’ grip on reality. Are your coworkers that saintly? We think not. The Dunder Mifflin crew is bizarrely loyal, but Andy isn’t one of their best-loved members. It’s a sweet touch, though.

As happy as his friends’ support makes him, Andy only wants to see that one special someone in the audience: Erin, who’s actually someone else’s someone at the moment. She agrees to come – sans Gabe – but she backs out at the last minute to babysit Cece for Jim and Pam.

But the show must go on – if the audience will cooperate. Michael tries to be the bigger man and come to the play, even though he didn’t get cast. The director must have a grudge against Michael, because we get to see his audition (a reenactment of an entire episode of Law & Order) and trust us, Michael is a born thespian. Michael can’t resist chugging a bottle of wine and booing Sweeney Todd, aka Darryl’s plumber, at the end of the show. (If Sweeney’s angry, we suggest that he practice his Method acting.)

The rest of the audience isn’t much better behaved. Think cell phones are annoying in theaters? Try an iPad. Ryan, we just can’t get enough of your egoism and sense of entitlement. Seriously. It’s hilarious. 

And crying babies. Those are the worst. Nothing’s more annoying, especially to the actors on stage, unless the woman holding that baby is the object of an actor’s desire. Yes, Erin shows up to the play with baby Cece, forcing Jim and Pam to end their night out on the town. They might be unhappy that date night got cut short, but Andy is happy, and so are we – until Gabe calls Erin and kills the mood.