American legend inspires
rock musical Lizzy
Show has a delightful combination of blood, rage and murder
By Byron Toben
May 8, 2023
The story of Lizzie Borden, who in 1895, in Fall River, Massachusetts, was tried, but not convicted, of killing her stepmother and father with an axe, has long been a part of American lore. It generated a rhyme, “Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother 40 whacks and when she saw what she had done, gave her father 41,” and resulted in two movies, The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975) and Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (2014).
So when Lizzie: The Musical, a rock opera, became available, it was inevitable that it attract Noelle Hannibal’s In The Wings Promotions, which has produced six of that genre over the past several years listed at the end of this article. But first, a comment on its latest, which opened on May 6.
It features an all-female cast:
As Lizzie Borden, Erin Carter
As Lizzie’s older sister Emma Borden, Noelle Hannibal
As neighbour Alice, Courtney Crawford
As maid Bridget Sullivan, Skyler Clark
The 23 songs (including two reprises) in the two-act show are based on the testimony given at Lizzie’s trial, which is reflected in their titles. The full cast opens the show with a prologue, Forty Whacks, and closes with an epilogue, Into Your Wildest Dreams. In between, the quartet or a trio thereof blast out some songs, and here I list the balance of solos and duets:
SOLOS
Lizzie – This is Not Love, Gotta Get Out of Here, Maybe Someday (reprise)
Alice – If You Knew, Maybe Someday
DUETS
Lizzie / Emma – Sweet Little Sister, What the Fuck Now, Lizzie?, Burn the Whole Thing Up, Watchmen for the Morning, Maybe Someday (reprise)
Lizzie / Alice – Would You Stay?
Lizzie / Bridgit – Somebody Will Do Something
… when Lizzie: The Musical, a rock opera, became available, it was inevitable that it attract Noelle Hannibal’s In The Wings Promotions, which has produced six of that genre over the past several years…
The on-stage band, save for its director/keyboard Ian Baird, is also all-female, with Emilie Coutu on guitar, Melissa Doucet on bass and Christina Beaudry-Cardenas on drums. In all, lots of strong beats and belting out, enhanced by the imaginative stage movement and choreography of director Nadia Verrucci. Ms. Hannibal, herself an accomplished professional actor and singer, has again shown a talent for casting in selecting upcoming younger talent to star, as she did in In The Wings Promotions’ earlier shows from 2015 to date: The Who’s Tommy, Chess, The Last Five Years, Hair, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Carrie: The Musical.
A growing following awaits the next ITWP show.
Lizzie: The Musical continues at the Théâtre La Comédie de Montréal until May 13.
Images: Romantic Photographic
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Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated web sites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.
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