Elisabeth Vincentelli

Elisabeth Vincentelli

Theater

Musical ‘Disaster!’ is anything but as it pays tribute to 1970s flicks

After being burned by years of low-rent movie-spoofing musicals — many of them from the Fringe — you can’t be blamed for dreading “Disaster!” This new show takes on 1970s disaster movies like “The Poseidon Adventure” and “The Swarm” by recycling hits like “Loving You,” “Three Times a Lady” and “I Am Woman.”

Happily, “Disaster!” turns out to be a hilarious little nugget. It does what it does really, really well, and is by far one of the funniest shows in town.

For their plot, writers Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick (who also directed) pilfered Hollywood cult classics.

The action takes place on the floating casino Barracuda, anchored on a New York pier. Long story short: It goes upside down, and eventually there will be piranhas, killer bees, rats and sharks.

The crew and guests are no less familiar, from bickering lovebirds (Matt Farcher and Haven Burton), to a middle-aged couple in matching polyester hideousness (Tom Riis Farrell and Broadway vet Mary Testa) and the obligatory nun (Jennifer Simard, in a knockout comic tour de force). Rudetsky himself plays Ted, a buttoned-up “disaster expert” who warns of an impending “enormously destructive geological event.”

The show’s master stroke is its use of the songs, which acquire new meaning without a single word being changed — context is all, as “Mamma Mia!” proved.

After the casino’s chef complains that the ovens are off, everybody starts singing “Hot Stuff.” And wait till you see how the writers worked in the odd word “grooss,” from the chorus of ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down.”

Backed by a four-piece band, the cast exerts itself tirelessly and is in terrific voice — not much of a surprise since Rudetsky is a show-tune savant and in-demand music director.

Kudos, especially, to young Jonah Verdon, who plays two siblings and switches from one to the other at breakneck speed — the impossibility of showing the kids together leads to many sight gags.

Simard also kills every time her Sister Mary Downy is onstage, peaking with a side-splitting rendition of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” that involves humping a “Hawaii Five-0” slot machine.

This ship may be going down, but you should definitely board it.