In ‘Lizzie,’ Borden loudly and stylishly wields that ax with rockin’ retribution | Review
Lizzie Borden was acquitted of killing her parents in a brutal ax attack in 1892, but the rock musical “Lizzie” thinks she was guilty. Make that gleefully guilty.
The subversive glee is part of the fun in “Lizzie,” onstage at The Abbey in Orlando in a Florida Theatrical Association production, though the murders happen offstage — oddly the weakest part of the show.
More rock concert or song cycle than theater in many ways — for big numbers, the performers pick up handheld mics — director Kenny Howard and his team have successfully played to the show’s strengths, starting with a charismatic cast.
Throughout the show, it feels less important to grasp every moment of Lizzie’s story than it is to appreciate the mood of the piece. And that mood — one of pent-up anger, stifling powerlessness and fury at enduring abuse — cathartically erupts in the punk-pop-rock score by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt.
If that genre of music is not your thing, “Lizzie” would be a long slog as the songs, true to form, basically come in two varieties: burn-the-world-down righteous rage and plaintive I-just-want-to-be-loved angst.
But there are some musical surprises along the way. “The House of Borden” comes directly from the musical-theater playbook (I kept thinking of “The House Upon the Hill” from “The Secret Garden.”) And there’s a straight-up hymn, “Watchmen for the Morning,” that while cleverly played for hypocritical laughs, is gorgeously sung by Nicole Visco and Briana Moten, as the accused and her accomplice-sister.
The singing throughout lands in that high-adrenaline rock way; especially notable are the harmonies between Visco and all three of her cast mates. Music director Rebekah Piatt also gets excellent sound from the accompanying rock band, with jarring, jangling, reverb chords augmenting that mood.
So does Kylee Taylor’s lighting, which flashes and changes color to the beat with rock-concert precision, but also dances around The Abbey in unsettling fashion.
Much is made of the incongruity of the 19th-century setting and the modern music. In Daisy McCarthy Tucker’s costume design, the women wear floor-length Victorian gowns for the first act, even while rocking out. (Lizzie sports some fierce black fingernails.) Bonnie Sprung’s set uses homespun wooden framing — juxtaposed against modern light towers.
It all comes right up to the border of too much affectation. But what pulls it back is the commitment of the actors. They are feeling this. Visco looks downright maniacal at times as Lizzie’s cauldron of emotions bubbles over. Moten maintains a calculating glint in the eye.
Jennica McCleary provides comic relief as a slyly mercenary maid to the Bordens, and Leigh Green shrouds her family-friend character in an appealing righteous innocence — the only one onstage to appear not guilty of something.
As with the music, surprises also pop up occasionally in the lyrics — one song that consists mainly of Moten articulating the F-word suddenly throws in a Shakespeare quotation. It’s moments like those that make you wonder if the creators, who also include book writer Tim Maner, were having a laugh or truly trying to say something profound.
Because there is something being said here. I don’t think the audience is cheering for Lizzie as an actual murderous human. They cheer for what she represents: A woman flipping the bird to an unjust society that looks down on her because of her gender while denying her the freedom to live her life as she chooses.
So, it is meaningful to see Lizzie take action — even blood-splattering action — to make sure she gets the life she deserves. Among the lights and rock riffs and clever costumes, that idea of standing up for your own rights does come across and is what ultimately makes this unique production a success.
‘Lizzie’
Length: 1:55, including intermission
Where: The Abbey, 100 S. Eola Drive in Orlando
When: Through Aug. 13
Cost: $20-$30
Info: FloridaTheatrical.org
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more arts news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/arts, and go to orlandosentinel.com/theater for theater news and reviews.
