West Boca’s Slow Burn Theatre Co. has carved out a niche for itself that no other area stage troupe seems interested in filling. Its stated mission is to tackle “daring, contemporary and intelligent” musicals, which certainly describes its current production of Kiss of the Spider Woman.
This odd-couple tale of Molina, a gay window dresser, and Valentin, a macho freedom fighter, thrown together in a Latin American prison cell, is a challenge to pull off and a challenge for an audience to go along to the dark recesses of the human condition where this adaptation of Manuel Puig’s acclaimed novel resides. It is a journey well worth taking, though, for the material has inspired director-choreographer Patrick Fitzwater and his cast to brawny and bombastic heights.
The brutal story line is hardly the stuff of conventional musical theater, but then composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb have been tackling risky subject matter for the past 45 years, since their breakthrough musical about seamy Weimar Germany, Cabaret.
Because prissy Molina helps Valentin mentally escape their bitter existence by narrating and describing the films of his film goddess idol Aurora, the show has an excuse for musical theater relief with movie-within-the-show production numbers. The result is a schizophrenic musical with two levels of reality, which needs precise staging that moves with cinematic ease, and Slow Burn delivers on both counts.
Typical of the live movie sequences is the song Where You Are, a musical tribute to mental escape, sung by leggy Renata Eastlick (Aurora) and her chorus boys/prisoners. Latin rhythms have inspired some of Kander’s most melodic work in years and Ebb’s lyrics of yearning for the incarcerated have a palpable heart-on-the-sleeve quality.
Fitzwater showcases a new arrival in the area, doughy Tom Creatore as emotionally fragile Molina, whose vocal confidence has an underlying touching quality. Co-artistic director Matthew Korinko is an impressive counterpoint as Valentin, particularly in his optimistic anthem of eventual triumph, The Day After That.
Eastlick fulfills the promise she showed in support in Slow Burn’s recent Rocky Horror Show, commanding the spotlight in the dual roles of Aurora and her death symbol film character, Spider Woman. Also a standout is Mary Gundlach, whose portrayal of Molina’s heartsick mother is very affecting.
Slow Burn also makes some significant strides in design here as scenic designer designer Ian T. Almeida harnesses the problematic, oversized performance space with an epic and surreal multi-level unit set. Although painted matte black, lighting designer Lance Blank executes instant mood changes by showering it with Technicolor hues.
Another sign of Slow Burn’s increased technical mastery is the sound design by Traci Almeida, which crisply balances the cast and Ivy Adams’ four-piece combo.
This second production by Slow Burn continues only through Sunday, but it is well worth seeking out this most artistically satisfying production in the company’s one year of existence.
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, Slow Burn Theatre Company at West Boca High School, 12811 West Glades Rd., Boca Raton. Through Sunday, Feb. 6. Tickets: $30. Call: (866) 811-4111.
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“Comparisons are odious,” as John Donne allegedly once observed, but he forgot to add “and inevitable.” In the case of Young Frankenstein — whose full title is The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, in case anyone might forget from whose fertile gag-reflex brain the show stems — it is up against two comparisons and it comes in a distant second to each.
For starters, it has to live up to our memories of the 1974 original black-and-white movie, a gem-like send-up of vintage horror films. But the best Brooks (and his co-writer Thomas Meehan) can do is repeat the movie’s best punch lines which, for most of the audience, now lack any surprise.
The less fair, but no less evident, comparison is to Brooks’ previous stage musical, The Producers, a far better-written adaptation that was showered in the 2001-2002 season with more Tony Awards than any show in Broadway history. Perhaps figuring that his next effort could get by on residual admiration, Brooks settled for an evening of recycled jokes and uninspired songs.
It is not until the middle of the second act that Dr. Frederick Frankenstein — the grandson of Mary Shelley’s mad scientist — and the monster he brings back to life tap their way through Puttin’ on the Ritz. But, of course, the song was written long ago by that irrepressible tunesmith Irving Berlin and it puts the rest of the show’s score to shame. (Hmm, make that odious comparison Number Three.) At least director-choreographer Susan Stroman builds the scene into a tap-stravagant production number, as the rest of the cast gets into the act.
The stage show is sub-par, but at least the national tour — which is playing the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach this week — has reasonably good production values and is well-cast. Without relying on impersonation, the performers do not stray far from their movie counterparts, Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, et. al. Of them, Cory English is a standout, even hunched over as spry sidekick Igor. As the Monster, hulking Preston Truman Boyd displays killer timing on his vaudeville song-and-dance and Synthia Link is aptly luscious as hayride-happy Inga, sort of a rewrite of The Producers’ Ulla.
Nevertheless, without its roots in the movie version or without the Brooks imprimatur, Young Frankenstein would never have made it to Broadway, and certainly would never have cloned a road tour.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Through Sunday, Feb. 6. Tickets: $25 and up. Call: (561) 832-7469 or (800) 572-8471.