Kiss of the Spider Woman, Nov 22, 2019 ****

MUSICAL THEATRE  

Book by Terrence McNally, Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb, based on novel by Manuel Puig

By Melbourne Theatre Company

At Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, until 28 Dec 2019  

Reviewer: Kate Herbert 

Stars: ****

 Review also published in Herald Sun, Tues 26 Nov 2019 & online Mon 25 Nov. KH

 SPIDER WOMAN-Adam-Jon Fiorentino, Ainsley Melham_ photo Jeff Busby_

Kander and Ebb’s musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman, will make you laugh, sigh, gasp, then laugh again at this story of horror and torture juxtaposed with high-camp, movie fantasy.

 

Based on Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel, with John Kander’s music, Fred Ebb’s lyrics and book by Terrence McNally, this is a funny, moving, political and fantastical show, directed with wit and sensitivity by Dean Bryant and with playful choreography by Andrew Hallsworth.

Molina (Ainsley Melham) survives the horrors of a bleak, South American prison by conjuring memories of his movie idol, Aurora (Caroline O’Connor).

Played with muscular machismo by Adam-Jon Fiorentino, Valentin, a dissident imprisoned for his Marxist views, initially cannot abide Molina’s escapist fantasies, but, eventually, they become as important to him as to his cellmate.

Melham is a charismatic ‘triple-threat’, with a rich, warm voice, and he is mischievous and camp as the vulnerable Molina who proves himself to be stronger than he, or anyone else, thought.

O’Connor dazzles with her versatility, magnetism and comic timing, drawing a wild ovation after the glitzy, Latin, Broadway-style chorus number, Where You Are, and the audience adores her hilariously histrionic death scene in Russian Movie.

Caroline O’Connor -photo Jeff Busby

Only in the Movies/His Name Was Molina, is a vivacious finale, Over The Wall is a stirring prisoners’ anthem about freedom, while Dear One is a poignant quartet between Melham, Fiorentino, Natalie Gamsu (Molina’s mother) and Elandrah Eramiha (Valentin’s girlfriend).

There are echoes of Kander and Ebb’s more famous musicals, Chicago and Cabaret, in the themes of imprisonment, dissidence, fascism and marginalised people.

While the final intimacy between Molina and Valentin occurs suddenly and, perhaps, unexpectedly, and the comedy sometimes outweighs the pathos, this production is ultimately both entertaining and touching.

by Kate Herbert

Directed by Dean Bryant

Cast: 

Caroline O’Connor 

Ainsley Melham

Adam-Jon Fiorentino 

Jakob Ambrose

Blake Appelqvist

Elandrah Eramiha 

Natalie Gamsu Joe Gaudion Ryan Gonzalez Bert LaBonté  Lyndon Watts