Music and Lyrics: John Kander and Fred Ebb. Book: Terence McNally. At: BoHo Theatre at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets: 773.975.8150. www.BoHoTheatre.com; $25-27. Runs through: June 30
As a dramatic story set against a troubling backdrop but full of romance and theatrical flair, John Kander and Fred Ebb's Kiss of the Spider Woman has always fit well alongside their most revered and successful works, Cabaret and Chicago. Yet it's much more operatic, much more fantastical and distinctively more queer.
Debuting in 1992, the musical embraces the homosexuality of its main characterLuis Alberto Molina, a man locked up in a Latin American prison for having sex with a minorin a way so different from today's films, shows and musicals with main characters no less queer. Most gay characters are written to help fill out a spectrum of diversity, provide comic relief or simply to "better reflect the times." Molina's sexuality serves none of these purposes (aside from a few comedic zingers). He embodies it, but it does not define him. At his core he is a man longing for escape and drawn helplessly toward romance. His sexuality only makes his dangerous set of circumstances worse.
BoHo Theatre (Bohemian Theatre Ensemble) captures this core with a visually impressive three-quarter round production of the musical at Theater Wit that includes a small live orchestra and performers with experience at musical subscription powerhouses such as the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire and Evanston's Light Opera Works. The deck is stacked, but the show is a string of moments that can be labeled hit-or-miss.
Even in this small space and without microphones, the ensemble numbers take off behind this collection of excellent (predominantly male) vocals. The variations on "Over the Wall" as well as more theatrical numbers such "Gimme Love" stand out thanks to choreography and the pure organic sound of these young men.
Evan Tyrone Martinwho plays Valentin, Molina's cellmate and a revolutionary with whom he falls in lovestands out among the featured vocal performers with his combination of power and moving falsetto. Nathan Carroll has the chops for Molina despite his youthful look, but his strengths lie in humanizing Molina's diva persona.
Without question, something is missing from the production and suspicion can rightfully be placed on Aurora the Spider Woman, played by Jennifer T. Grubb. She has the femme fatale look, especially in Bill Morey's costumes, but there's an inexplicable lack of power behind her vocals. (Giving her a mic might've made artistic as well as common sense.) As the imaginary temptress and looming specter of death floating in and out of the action, her character should titillate the audience with every appearance, but she only does so visually.
Director Peter Marston Sullivan has chosen to put great emphasis on the escapist elements of this challenging musical and in that endeavor he succeeds. And not just in terms of the blur between fantasy and reality, but also in it being a passionate love story. Molina's feelings for Valentin are never lost and play out in a lovely way in "Anthing for Him."
What is lost, however, is the aching and suspenseful drama and tragic unfolding of events, those things thatwhen this musical is at its bestfuel the more abstract elements. More effective numbers featuring the Spider Woman might have at least created a safety net in the production's entertainment value, but if the drama doesn't work here, the ceiling is only so high.
Kiss of the Spider Woman has a lot to be proud of, but BoHo has tried to scale a challenging wall of a musical.