The Devastation of a Little Girl
Contemporary musical theater is not a new phenomenon;
musicals have been around for ages. However, hard rock musical theater is a bit
newer, and quite a bit more electrifying.
Lizzie, an Out of
the Box Theatre Company presentation, tells the story of a young Lizzie Borden
just days before the infamous brutal death of her father and stepfather in
1892. Written by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Alan Stevens Hewitt, and Tim Maner,
the story reasonably portrays the facts of the events, while taking some
liberties in the story in between. Not a light hearted story, they portray the
gruesome events with vivid imagery set to the back ground of hard, close to
punk, rock, giving the story a deeper sense of insanity.
The cast is what makes this musical event stand out. Katie Moya plays Lizzie, Amy Soriano-Palagi
plays Lizzie’s sister Emma, Sydney Wesson plays their neighbor Alice, and
Samantha Corbett plays the maid Bridgett (sometimes called Maggie). The four of them create a rock opera event
like no other. Accompanied by a live four-piece band set behind a curtain on a
stage with a choice few props, the show centers entirely on the girls; their
emotions, reactions, and interactions with each other. Together they tell the
heart wrenching yet brutal story of the deterioration of a young girl as she
slips deeply into darkness.
Act 1 is one of innocence lost. Lizzie visibly struggles
with the “secret” of her family, which is implied carefully through hints and
innuendoes via songs in a very punk rock fashion, more Sonic Youth’s “Kool
Thing” than West Side Story’s “I Feel Pretty.” Feet stomping, clutching the mic stand, Lizzie
screams “Why are all these heads off?” as the light of innocence visibly leaves
her after her father brutally chops off the heads off her beloved pets. Lizzie’s
world gets darker. All violence is implied in the background but seen in the
anguish in the violence of the songs throughout the act. The intensity,
complexity, beauty, and violence build until Lizzie goes mad, culminating in
the ensemble gathering together in the beautifully poignant and painful
“Mercury Rising” musical piece consisting of no words, only moans of loss. Then
murder...
Act 2 is the emergence of a new Lizzie, a darker one. All
four
ladies appear in period appropriate under garments and heavy, somewhat
whorish, makeup. Perhaps to portray how hot it is in August, but most likely to
demonstrate their power as females in their new world. It’s all in the
interpretation. There are reprisals of songs from Act 1, but their meanings are
reversed in this inverted world. Intricately intertwined within new lyrics, the
twisted new world of Lizzie Borden is revealed. No longer the innocent victim,
Lizzie is now a monster herself, wickedly commanding attention and getting her
way, again in a very punk rock fashion. Lizzie counted down her days in jail until pay
day upon her release in “Thirteen Days in Taunton,” once again clutching the
mic stand and stomping her foot. Then the verdict…
Historically accurate (cuz I fact-checked immediately), Lizzie stoked the fire of interest in the
historical events surrounding the scandal of Lizzie Borden. Executed craftily
through the use of provocative lyrics and hard rock, the lesson in history was
quite painless and somewhat subliminal. The lesson was painless, but not the
devastation.