“There’s blood, there’s gore and a mighty rock gig score”
So you thought ‘Bat out of Hell, the Musical’ would be your only chance to experience a top notch rock musical this year? Well think again, Lizzie’s in town!
Based around true events of the late 19th century, Lizzie tells the grim story of the Bordens, a well off Massachusetts family comprising Lizzie (Bjorg Gamst), her older sister Emma (Eden Espinosa), their father and stepmother.
The girls’ mother had died when Lizzie was small, but Emma (who was nine years older), remembered her well and despised the stepmother. When she starts to have more and more influence on their father, the girls become deeply concerned about this wretched woman’s impact on their lives. Deadly consequences would follow.
The musical doesn’t directly feature the parents (they ‘sort of’ appear but it would be a spoiler if I said more), instead it focuses on the two sisters, Alice Russell (their neighbour and close friend of Lizzie) and the family’s maid, Bridget Sullivan (Jodie Jacobs).
It’s a dark tale exploring not only the fateful events of summer 1892, but looking at the type of man their father really was and examining the kind of relationships Lizzie was having with her friend Alice (Bleu Woodward) and those around her.
There is a strong rock score throughout which may not at first appeal to lovers of more traditional musicals. Don’t be put off though, there are clever lyrics and the vocal performances of all four of the cast are electric. The songs themselves are all quite rocky in structure but range from ballad to all out headbangers. You’ll be a rock fan before you know it.
Simply staged (which works really well for this style of musical), with some rear projections and a few props. One of the best technical parts of the evening is the lighting (Martin Jensen), which is part rock concert part musical theatre and part awesome! Costume design is also excellent ranging from plain period smocks to sultry leather vixen outfits.
Lizzie is one of those rare productions where you cannot find a single member of the cast you’d describe as outstanding. That’s because in Lizzie they all are, as are the members of the accompanying band (unusually for the theatre they all got to join the curtain call which was a nice touch).
Lizzie was a smash hit last year at the Fredericia Teater, Denmark and it looks like being the same again in Greenwich.
