|
 THRILL
ME; The Leopold & Loeb Story
(Regional
Premiere)
Book, music, and lyrics by Stephen Dolginoff
Uptown Players
Direction, Scenic & Costume Design by Bruce R. Coleman
Musical Direction by Lee Harris
Lighting Design by Adam Hughes
CAST
RICHARD LOEB......................Kevin Moore
NATHAN LEOPOLD.................Chad Peterson
The murder of a human being
at the hands of another is such a travesty within our culture. But when
it comes to the murder of a child or teen, something within us causes us
to feel much more sorrow for that loss of innocent life. When a child is
killed, the media becomes this hungry beast that cannot satisfy its
enormous belly until the last bit of scandal, rumor, or innuendo has
been exposed to its very core. There is always at least one major crime
that becomes the child killing of the year with the media. From Polly
Klause to Amber Hagerman (whose horrific death resulted in the Amber
Alert).
Just look a the recent case
involving John Mark Karr, the accused pedophile who claimed he killed
child beauty queen Jon Benet Ramsey. Every last detail, right down to
what he ate on the international flight was dissected and fed into the
media beast. The end result was that Karr had nothing to do with the
killing, but had a strange, sick fascination and love for Ramsey.
Sometimes the general public
can be a bit over zealous on the common theme of" Think of the
children." On THE SIMPSONS they always have Mrs. Lovejoy (the now dead
wife of Reverend Lovejoy) screaming in town hall meetings, "Think of the
children"
Regardless, the tragic
killing of a child is wrong, and leaves the general public wondering out
loud, "Why? Why would you hurt a child? What did they ever do to you?"
Sadly, sometimes it just has to be the frightful, simple truth of being
at the wrong place at the right time.
Such is the background of the dark chamber musical, THRILL ME, now
receiving its Regional premiere at Uptown Players.
The story involves Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, two privileged,
rich, spoiled, soulless, bored lovers who decide one day to take a 10 yr
old boy out in the woods and kill him. Why? You have to see the musical
to find your answer.
Loeb and Leopold have had two films made about their appalling crime.
There was 1959's COMPULSION with Orson Welles and a young Dean Stockwell.
The other was the critically acclaimed SWOON (1992).
The story in the musical is
this: Richard Loeb (Kevin Moore) despises his brother John, wants his
penny-pinching parents to give him more money, and is addicted to
Nietzsche. Add to that his Machiavellian
 attitude
and his side job of being a pyromaniac and you have a heartless
individual whose main concern is where to get the next bigger high
(non-drug that is). His lover Nathan Leopold (Chad Peterson) is the nerd
like, whipping boy for Loeb to lash emotional, brutal scars that ravage
Leopold's heart. Like a lost puppy he obeys and follows Loeb's
instructions, no matter what they may be. His reward for this? Five
minutes of carnage love.
Alas that is were the major
problems lie with the musical. It is extremely hard to try to feel
compassion for these two. Stephen Dolginoff's unexceptional, lumpy book
never peels into the inner core of either character. What truly lies
within the cold, black hearts of these two? What made them really tick?
Childhood traumas? Overbearing parents? Was it the climate of the times?
What? The book and lyrics beg-even plead for subtext. I could find
hardly any. You knew the "basic" plot, but the characters needed to be
much more explored and developed to show the audience the raw, naked,
emotional core of both men. You could sort of sense the carefree
attitude and vibe that reminded you of Oliver Stone's NATURAL BORN
KILLERS, but only for a flickering moment.
I wanted to really understand
& comprehend what made these two men turn out to be gutless killers, but
instead the book just left me baffled.
Dolginoff's lyrics tried way too hard to rhyme. They don't really
excavate into the minds and hearts of the two lovers turned killers.
Some songs do succeed in its lyrics in moving the story along- "A
Written Contract"; "Thrill Me"; "My Glasses/Lay Low"; and "Afraid". The
best lyrics from the trunk load of songs are contained in the sinister
song "Roadster". I wished the bulk of the lyrics patterned in
"Roadster", where both character development and story are fully exposed
and explored were in all his songs.
There are 16 songs within the story; some are haunting, memorable tunes,
while others sound like filler and ring of similarity as the others.
There are some songs that do remind you of another pair of killers,
Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD. In fact the stories sort of parallel
each other. One loves the other so much, they will do anything for the
other just to be loved back, even kill. An example is "The Plan", a song
that has hints of the lyric pattern and melody of "A Little Priest" from
TODD. From Dolginoff's pen, for me the best musical numbers within the
score include, "A Written Contract"; "Thrill Me"; "Way Too Far"; "My
Glasses/Lay Low"; "Roadster";" Keep Your Deal With Me"; and "Afraid".
Leave it to director Bruce Coleman though to give the production
substance and faultless staging. A production like this shows the naked
truth of a real director's talents. Two actors & one set. Some would
fail, but not Coleman. You can see that each song was dissected and
explored to give it emotional weight. Both characters are blocked to
reflect what the wheels are spinning in their minds and the emotion from
their souls. It is never overbearing or cumbersome staging. Instead it
has purpose, strength, and subtle subtext that help so much in rising
above the trite lyrics and book.
An example is in one of the duets, while Loeb (Moore) is singing on how
to kill and how that will make him feel. While this deranged psycho
sings away, his lover Leopold (Peterson) is on the ground, gently
rubbing Loeb's legs. Neither the lyrics nor the book state this, but
Coleman shows us clearly two men working one mission, but both have
different agendas as to why they are doing it. Its subtext like this
that reflects how brilliant a director Coleman is. Every song is blocked
and staged with simple, yet powerful brushes of emotional subtext.
THRILL ME is a perfect example of why Coleman is regarded not only one
of the best directors of musical theater around, but also that he is an
"actor's" director. That is the type of director all actors salivate
for.
As if that wasn't enough, Coleman also designed the set and costumes,
both which look terrific. The set is a decaying, crumbling, death
chamber of a jail cell in which the story is told on. The floor is
splattered with dots, the walls are cold, grey stone with metal rods
sticking out like prisoner arms begging for a human touch. In his
continuing path of subtext, Coleman very wisely costumed one actor in
crèmes and whites, while the other in dark blues and black. Ah, one is
good, the other evil. But are they?
Adam Hughes lighting design is spectacular. His design really helps the
audience go from scene to scene along with the story with ease. A mist
of fog apparently has been sprayed into the theater, giving the lighting
a brooding, uncomfortable look. From the hanging lights of the Prison
parole room, to the orange glow of the park, Hughes lighting works
perfectly with Coleman's direction. One of my favorite lighting designs
was the combination of harsh, angular whites and flashlight for the
ominous "Roadster" number.
Accolades must also be given to the one-man orchestra of Kevin Gunter
(he and Musical Director Lee Harris play at various performances).
Usually Uptown has a good size band for its musicals, but for this one
it has a simple piano. It actually worked quite well with the intimate
cast and setting. Gunter's musicianship was superb, following the
emotion of his two leads in compete unison.
Chad Peterson and Kevin Moore both drip in solid, raw, animalistic
chemistry that radiates across the stage and into the audience. Each has
their own big moments in the spotlight and deliver the best work either
actor has done on a Dallas stage.
Moore wears the bad boy persona like a second skin. There were a couple
of minor missteps with the facial expressions, but those were rare in
comparison to the growling, masculine overtones that he
brought to his character. This is no 1920s cake boy, but instead a
heartless killer with a voracious appetite for thrills. Moore truly
shines in the second half when he berates and screams at Peterson in
song and book about losing his glasses, and then implicating him as well
for the murder. Moore's acting technique here never rings false or
unbelievable. You truly believe this man would gut his lover like a fish
if it meant saving his neck from the noose. Moore's finest solos show
the depth of his talent that has never been explored before. One is
"Roadster", the song that sweet talks Bobby Franks (the 10 yr old boy)
into taking a ride in his death chariot. The other is "Afraid", a ballad
that finally melts the iron wall surrounding his
soul to show a man-child truly now scared of his future behind bars.
Measuring him at an even level is Peterson as the more gentle one of the
two. Peterson has matured into a more secure, confident actor over the
years, and this is his finest performance to date. While I do wish he
had been able to shed real tears in his emotional breakdown late in the
piece, he nonetheless delivers the goods. Peterson gives Nathan a lost
heart searching for a shoulder to lean on for love and support. The
actor has some great subtext that assists him greatly in developing a
more complex character than what is on paper.
His reactions to Moore's behavior are completely natural, organic, and
truthful. There are no false pretensions in his character cloth, but
instead sublime honesty. For Peterson his best musical numbers include
"Thrill Me", "Way Too Far", and "My Glasses".
The only chink in their performances was within their singing. Both do
possess nice, enjoyable singing voices, but at times the tenor notes
were hard to reach & there was at times a problem of sustaining notes.
Also the tight harmonies at times would go out of pitch or strike a flat
note. Finally a couple of times actor and piano were not in sync with
each other. But you know what? With such exquisite performances, you can
forgive the minor problems that arose with their singing.
This is not a happy, pretty musical. Not by a long shot. It is dark,
evil, and macabre even. But to see a director at the top of his game,
superior design elements, excellent piano playing, and two actors
delivering outstanding performances, THRILL ME is not to be missed.
Musical theater tends to stay safe in the genres of happy comedy. It is
hard for darker material to be given solid weight. While THRILL ME does
have some serious problems in its score & book, Uptown Players goes
beyond what is on the page & have produced a first rate regional
premiere.
GRADE: B+
______________________________________________________________________
THRILL ME plays through November 12th. Shows at 8 p.m. on Wednesday
through Saturday and at 2pm on Sundays. All shows take place at the Kim
Dawson Theater in the Trinity River Arts Center (2600 Stemmons Freeway;
I-35 at Motor Street). Tickets are $22-25 & can be purchased online at
www.uptownplayers.org or by
phone at 214-219-2718. |
