A part of the enjoyable of this season (I’ve seen all six episodes) comes if you recognize sufficient not solely concerning the reveals being spoofed however the respective resumes of a few of these actors. It is humorous sufficient to observe Cumming and Chenoweth bouncing off one another once more, in a lot completely different roles than that they had within the first season; it is funnier nonetheless to see them grousing about orphans they should take care of, particularly for those who recall that they respectively performed the incorrigible Rooster and Lily within the TV-movie model of “Annie” over 20 years in the past. It is pleasant sufficient to see DeBose because the MC of a seedy nightclub a la “Cabaret” earlier than remembering that one in all Alan Cumming’s breakout roles in the US was … taking part in the MC in an precise Broadway revival of “Cabaret.” And so forth.

The opposite novel twist on this season is in flipping the script on its predecessor. The opening season put Josh and Melissa at odds as a result of Josh was virtually vehemently unfamiliar with and uninterested within the Broadway musicals being referenced, whereas Melissa not solely acknowledged them however was very happy to get entangled within the musical proceedings. This time round, attributable to some childhood trauma, Melissa’s solely vaguely conscious of the reveals serving as inspiration for this parable, and Josh finds himself virtually immediately hooked on the extra grownup, darker tones evinced by nightclub dancers, thieves, and others. It is a pure development of the place the present went (additionally making certain an absence of distracting mid-show commentary about how baffling it’s that characters simply up and sing and dance at a second’s discover).

If there’s any doubtlessly dicey side, it is this: for those who are conversant in reveals like “Chicago,” “Cabaret,” and “Sweeney Todd,” you recognize that what makes these musicals so memorable and so efficient is that they don’t draw back from the darkness. “Cabaret” is stuffed with dexterous and deft music, and seeing because it’s set in Germany within the early days of the Nazi regime, it doesn’t try and spruce issues up with a contented ending. “Sweeney Todd” is a few crazed ex-con who kills individuals and turns them into meat pies (reductive, however nonetheless correct). These should not shiny and blissful reveals, nor even is one other of this season’s inspirations, “Hair,” whose hippie characters are turned bitter by the onslaught of the Vietnam Battle. “Schmigadoon!” remains to be, at its coronary heart, a present that loves its two lead characters and is invested sufficient of their happiness to not indulge too deeply in darkness. (Suffice it to say, there aren’t any precise Nazis or human meat pies on this season.)

However these are nonetheless trifling issues in what has stealthily grow to be one of the vital pleasant streaming-era reveals thus far. “Schmigadoon!” wears its coronary heart on its sleeve, even when issues get too darkish or too groovy (there’s a honest deal of hippie humor, permitting Key to play a number of additional notes in Josh’s repertoire). Each Key and Sturdy match again into their roles easily, and the solid surrounding them is barely too blissful to each embrace and playfully skewer Broadway-musical tropes. “Schmigadoon!” felt like an sudden magic trick the primary time round, and miraculously, the second season is simply as successful.

“Schmigadoon” season 2 premieres April 5 on Apple TV+.