Thrill Me; The Leopold and Loeb Story

The newly formed Havok Theatre Company has produced a winning musical Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story. The musical is more like a chamber opera with heavy musical comedy (though there are few laughs) technique. Thrill Me is written and composed by Stephen Dolginoff.  The plot is, of course, familiar; two rich kids in Chicago in 1924 commit “the crime of the century”, kidnapping and killing 14 year old Bobby Franks for the “thrill” of it. The case became sensational and the boys Jewishness, their homosexual relationship, the plea for mercy by the famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow, and the shear banality of the crime have become fodder for many books, some plays, movies (Rope and Compulsion), and much speculation. In fact,  a new play based on actual transcripts and newly culled information is playing down the street at the Blank Theatre.

The two- hander musical Thrill Me is beautifully acted by Stewart Calhoun and Alex Schemmer. It seems that Schemmer’s character Richard Loeb is caught up with the idea of committing the “perfect crime”. Nathan Leopold (Calhoun), obsessed with Loeb, makes a blood pact with Loeb to do whatever Richard wants in return for sexual favors. The trick in this story is the twist at the end when it is revealed that Leopold made sure they were caught so they could spend the rest of their lives together in jail. The question becomes who manipulated whom. Schemmer has Loeb’s good looks and shows his excitement for committing a crime and his absolute dependency on Loeb to carry it out. Calhoun is chilling as Leopold and gives an outstanding performance. Their singing voices aren’t as strong as they might be but they handle the music well.

Nick DeGruccio has done a splendid job of direction. He seems to be everywhere these days doing terrific work. My only question here was the sensual nature of most of the scenes. Lots of kissing and clutching. While more subtle aspects of there fatal attraction are diminished the sexual tension is palatable and drives the piece and adds to it perversity.  His staging is fast paced and flowing.

The simple, but multileveled set by Tom Buderwitz, and the moody lighting by Steve Young, perfectly fit the atmosphere of the piece. The able accompaniment is by Michael Paternostro on piano.  At the Hudson Theatre by the Havok Theatre Company through March 16.