Lyric’s KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN a Gritty, Liberating Love Story

 

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

 

Lyric Stage of Boston’s first show of their season is “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, the winner of the 1993 Tony Award. “Kiss of the Spider Woman” recounts a harrowing tale of persecution into a dazzling spectacle that juxtaposes gritty realities with liberating fantasies about two very different cell mates. The cell mates are in a Latin American prison, Valentin is a tough revolutionary journalist undergoing torture and Molina is an “unabashed homosexual” serving eight years for deviant behavior.

 

Molina shares his fantasies about an actress, Aurora originated on Broadway by Chita Rivera, with Valentin. One of her roles is a Spider Woman who kills with a kiss. Molina hates the cruelty and injustice of the real world and creates his own world where he is a woman loved by men. Molina helps Valentin recover from his anger by paying attention to his stories in prison. Valentin in return gives Molina a backbone to stand up to repressive thuglike Warden. This musical is gut wrenching and tear jerking but also interspersed with comic moments provided by the movie star coming in and out of scenes to relieve the tension except in one dramatic and explosive moment when Aurora delivers the Kiss of the Spiderwoman to Molina. The book is by Terrence McNally with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb and is based on the novel by Manuel Puig. Rachel Bertone takes this epic musical and brings out the dramatic and comic moments perfectly and provides dynamite choreography for the Spiderwoman’s many numbers while Dan Rodriguez supplies the musical direction for this Kander and Ebb Tony Award winning show. He plays lead keyboards and conducts a five piece orchestra. What a marvelous way to start off the new season in Boston at Lyric Stage.

 

 

Rachel is aided in her task by assistant director, Rebecca Synder and all the costumes and gorgeous gowns of Aurora are by Marion Bertone, Rachel’s mom. One of the best dance numbers is “Morphine Tango” where there is a pas de deux between Bernie Baldassaro and Arthur Cuadros that’s incredible. Lisa Yuen does a wonderful in this enormous role. Her character appears in Molina’s imagination.  Aurora’s many numbers include the Prologue which sets up the character’s many entrances into the drab prison to bring life and color to the black and white reality of doom and death. Lisa’s next numbers are dance numbers with a tango in “Her Name is Aurora” which sounds like “Whatever Lola Wants” performed with Molina and the chorus, the next “Where You Are” is a jazzy number like “Buenos Aires” from “Evita” which also stops the show with power and punch as does the powerhouse closing number of Act 1 “Gimme Love” where she again dances up a storm with boys. The second act turns darker for Aurora as she first portrays a Russian spy in “Russian Movie” and sings “Good Times” to cheer Valentin and Molina up because they are in dire straits with the Warden. It is a rousing number. When Molina saves the day once again Valentin gives into Molina’s attraction to him by having sex. However things take a dark turn when Lisa sing “Kiss of the Spiderwoman” and later on Molina pays the price for becoming brave and protecting Valentin with his life. She delivers a strong performance. I first reviewed Lisa as Christine Colgate in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” at Theatre by the Sea back in 2009. I last reviewed Lisa at Lyric Stage as the Baker’s Wife in “Into the Woods” back in 2014.

 

Eddy Cavazos plays the effeminate Molina who loves to dress in women’s clothes. His character is hilarious at first and wins many laughs at his outrageous and comic behavior. Then Eddy mines the layers of the character to show his many facets of what he fears, how he copes with the brutality of prison life and how he reminisces about his mother and the actress, Aurora. Molina talks incessantly until Valentin blows up at him and divides the cell into two forbidding him to step over the line. However even though Valentin is the more macho character, Molina displays hidden courage when push comes to shove by eating Valentin’s poisoned food and for not ratting him out to the Warden and the guards who taunt him continually. Eddy’s numbers include “Her Name is Aurora” when he describes her many roles and how he’s been afraid to be kissed by the Spiderwoman because whomever she kisses eventually dies. He then sings the comic “Dressing Them Up” when he describes being a window dresser, he also mentions Dolores DelRio to Valentin whom he slowly falls in love with as he and Aurora sing “Gimme Love” which closes the first act. Molina’s last declaration is “Fuck the Warden” when he vows to protect the identity of Valentin’s girl friend. The trio sings the happy song”Good Times” in counterpoint in the second act but things turn somber when he sings “Mama It’s Me” to his ailing mother over the phone which tugs on your heart strings. Another trio number is “Anything for Him” and his final song is the joyous “Only in the Movies” when Molina has entered into the heavenly spiritual realm finally becoming part of the movies and imaginary world at last. Rachel ends the show with Molina kissing Valentin. They have learned well from each other on how to be brave and how to be a human being once more. I last reviewed Eddy as Scuttle in “The Little Mermaid” at the Strand Theatre in 2015.

 

The third leading player is the dynamic,Taavon Gamble as the tortured revolutionary who yearns for his girlfriend, Marta while holding up the ideals of Karl Marx. He is an angry young man at the start as he sings “Draw the Line” when he declares his side of the cell off limits, then sings the emotion packed “Dear One” with Marta, Molina and his mother, the wistful “Marta” with his girl friend and in the second act sings the powerful “The Day After That” where those who oppose an oppressive regime soon disappear for good. Taavon’s voice soars in this show stopping number. The evil sadistic Warden is well played by Luis Negron who scares the crap out of everyone onstage and in the audience, too especially when he wields the gun. The sympathetic roles of Marta and Mama are excellently portrayed by Katrina Zofia and Johanna Carlisle-Zeppeda who display their voices in the pretty ballad “Dear One” while Katrina sings “Marta” and Johanna sings the gut wrenching “You Could Never Shame Me” which is reminiscent of “I Miss the Music” from “Curtains.” I have been reviewing Katrina for many years since high school and she’s grown into a splendid and ingenue. Even though this show was written in 1993 and takes place in 1975 when Juan Peron was thrown out of power, the storyline definitely rings through with oppressive and restrictive regimes in power all over the world. So for an emotion packed seldom done musical treat, be sure to catch “Kiss of the Spiderwoman” where you will laugh and cry in all the right places with the splendid direction, choreography, musical direction and talent of this cast. Run do not walk to the box office. Tell them Tony sent you.

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN ( 31 August to 7 October)

The Lyric Stage of Boston, Inc., 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA

1(617)585-5678 or www.lyricstage.com