Okay. I’ll admit it. I was never a fan of the Brat Pack culture. So, it was not until The Breakfast Club became a TBS rerun staple that I glimpsed into the world of this odd sociological cult that was growing all around me. I was still no fan, but at least I was able to recognize what it was about the film that drew teens in and made them feel connected, in that unconnected, virtual sort of way. So, twenty or so years later, I am here to report on a new cult hit of the small stage entitled, You See Us as You Want to See Us…REFLECTIONS FROM THE BREAKFAST CLUB. Part remake, part parody, and entirely over the top, this silly salute to popular culture got me giggling, and then some.

Basically, REFLECTIONS is a theatrical version of the film. There are some minor changes, like presenting the geek as a foreigner, making the jock gay, and the weird girl overweight, but the script is almost verbatim from the screenplay. So, if you just cannot get enough Club, you will be thrilled. I brought my sister along, a connoisseur of the in films of our youth, and she was nearly in tears from laughing so hard.

Much of the humor had to do with a reinterpretation of lines intended to be serious that are presented as over the top camp in REFLECTIONS, but some came from some selective additions of media detail. A great gag comes from a nod to Molly Ringwald’s cancelled role on The Facts of Life, and the Claire character is spotted reading the Time Magazine with Molly herself on the cover. There is one odd, possessed-like channeling performance of Live Aid delivered by the vocally gifted Ms. Amoroso, as well as winks at both Sixteen Candles and American Pie, but everything else is much as you will remember, right down to the music.

In the end, You See Us as You Want to See Us…REFLECTIONS FROM THE BREAKFAST CLUB is, unapologetically, what it is. Not deep, not poignant, full of stereotypes and played to the lowest common denominator, the creators of this revisionist play act it to the hilt and strictly for fun. Or is that just how I see them? A faggot, a fat girl, a foreigner, a bitch, an asshole… A Breakfast Club for the next millennium.

- Kessa De Santis -

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ELJ Article: Don’t You Forget About Me: A Breakfast Club For The New Millennium