Theater News

Murder, He Wrote

Barbara & Scott double their pleasure at the York Theatre and enjoy Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole’s show at Feinstein’s.

Matt Bauer and Doug Kreeger in Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story(Photo © Carol Rosegg)
Matt Bauer and Doug Kreeger in
Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story
(Photo © Carol Rosegg)

If you like your musicals dark and sinister, have we got the show for you! It’s titled Thrill Me:The Leopold & Loeb Story, and it’s literally a killer show with captivating melodies and clever lyrics that drive the story forward, providing both fast-moving exposition and incisive character explication. The music and lyrics come courtesy of the gifted Stephen Dolginoff, who also devised a book that is as tightly woven as its two characters are tightly wound.

Nathan Leopold (Matt Bauer) is our narrator. The story is told largely from his point of view as he recreates the events surrounding “The Murder of the Century” — the senseless killing of a child named Bobby Franks in 1924 by Leopold and his lover, Richard Loeb (Doug Kreeger). In the course of the flashbacks that recount the tale, we come to understand the twisted but utterly human emotions that led to the crime. It doesn’t matter if the story as presented here is entirely true, only that it’s compelling. Unless you’re put off by the subject itself, we think you’ll be both intrigued and impressed with this musical two-hander at the York Theatre Company.

Matt Bauer seems a bit too attractive to play the needy Leopold, while Doug Kreeger sings the role of Loeb exceedingly well but tends to overact. But neither performer is so far off the mark as to get in the way of the powerful material. The show is artfully directed by Michael Rupert, and special praise goes to Thom Weaver for creating moods, playing spaces, and startling effects with his brilliant lighting design.

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Jimmy Dieffenbach (center) and the cast of Captain Louie(Photo © Carol Rosegg)
Jimmy Dieffenbach (center) and the cast of Captain Louie
(Photo © Carol Rosegg)

Oh Captain, My Captain

Playing in repertory with Thrill Me at the York is the winsome family musical Captain Louie, with a cheerful and charming score by Stephen Schwartz. At the performance we attended, actor Michael Cerveris made a special appearance to read the book upon which the musical is based. We’re glad we had this opportunity to experience the source material, as it made us really appreciate what a delightful job Anthony Stein has done in adapting a 350-word picture book into an hour-long musical.

An enchanting piece of work, Captain Louie is essentially about the trials and tribulations of moving to a new neighborhood and making friends there. The cast, which includes both actual children and young adults masquerading as kids, is somewhat uneven. Among the youngsters to watch is Sara Kapner, whom we noticed last season in Children’s Letters to God; she has strong acting chops and a lovely voice. But this show rides less on the individual talents of its cast members than on the imaginative direction of Meridee Stein, the inspired set design of Jeff Subik, and the wonderful Schwartz score .

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Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole
Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole

A Mighty Surprise at Feinstein’s

If ever there was an act that cried out “Folk City,” not “Feinstein’s at the Regency,” it’s No Standards, the endearingly eccentric show featuring the married actors Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole (along with Nell Geisslinger, O’Toole’s daughter from her previous marriage). But Folk City is long gone, so we’re glad that Feinstein’s is offering these performers a home — if not a Prairie Home — where we can be their companions for an evening of songs that range from nice to nutty.

The show, which runs through June 4, is made up almost entirely of songs written by the couple — including their Oscar-nominated ballad “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” from A Mighty Wind. The patter is delivered largely by McKean, whose sly and dry sense of humor punctuates the act while O’Toole’s more serious manner anchors it. The vivacious Geisslinger is fulll of youthful energy as she sometimes literally bounces around the stage; at one point, she even plays her puckered cheeks in musical accompaniment to the evening’s lone standard, “I’ll Remember You.” (Did we mention that the show’s goofiness factor is very high?)

If the most important rule in putting on a show in the intimate confines of a nightclub is to make the audience like you, then McKean, O’Toole, and Geisslinger come through. Charming and real, they relate to each other and to us with a nonchalant directness that is both fresh and disarming. The fact that they are ultimately more entertaining than their material only slightly lessens the show’s appeal. Many of their songs are the musical equivalents of a Saturday Night Live sketch: great concept, no development. On the other hand, they sound swell, offering a colorful blend of vocal harmonies in many of their numbers.

We found out later that McKean, O’Toole, and Geisslinger used to do this act at parties for their friends; they’re so lacking in slickness and so entirely unaffected, it’s as if that’s what they’re still doing. At the end of the show, you feel so comfortable with them that you’d like to join them for a beer or two in the kitchen.

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[To contact the Siegels directly, e-mail them at siegels@theatermania.com.]