“Served with a Homicide
of Romance”***
By Elyse Orecchio
From time to time Theatre's Leiter Side will be posting reviews of Off-Off Broadway shows my schedule prevents me from seeing. If you are interested in reviewing Off-Off Broadway, please contact me so we can discuss. I hope you find the expanded coverage useful. Sam Leiter
Some people spend their university years in an inebriated haze; others
write a full-length musical. Sure, University of Sheffield students Cordelia
O’Driscoll and Tom Williams were under the influence when they created their
first piece, Buried. That would be the influence of Jason Robert Brown
and Stephen Sondheim. O’Driscoll and Williams have touted The Last Five Years
and Sweeney Todd
as inspiration for their musical, which is about two serial killers who like
each other enough not to murder each other on the first date…awwww!!!
 |
| Lindsay Manion, Sebastian Belli. |
Rose and Harry pair up, but not in that way. They decide to
join forces in a killing spree, and romance comes later (you know what they
say—first comes homicide…). Promising premise, but not much happens from there.
With the smattering of killings occurring offstage, and a low-thrill storyline,
the result is a good deal of dead space.
 |
| Rebecca Yau, Wilf Walsworth, Lindsay Manion. |
Lifting Buried above ground is the original folksy score by
O’Driscoll (music and lyrics), soulfully led by the silky-voiced Manion, who
would be equally comfortable singing on stage or in a coffee house. The lilting
harmonies of the ensemble (Niamh
Finan, Laurence Hunt, Wilf Walsworth, and Rebecca Yau) elevate their characters from cartoon status. A standout number,
“I’m Okay,” features
the cast’s female trio, whose voices blend beautifully.
 |
| Sebastian Belli, Lindsay Manion. |
In contrast with the sophisticated score, the book by Tom
Williams (who also co-wrote the lyrics and directed) comes across as boring and
at times, even amateurish. But take that with a grain of salt, considering this
production won accolades across the United Kingdom and made its way to the New
York Music Theatre Festival, an admirable feat for two university students who,
by the way, are already working on their next musical.
The Alice Griffin Jewel
Box Theatre
480 W42nd st., NYC
Through July 14
Elyse Orecchio studied musical theatre at Emerson College, acting at CUNY
Brooklyn College, and English Linguistics & Rhetoric at CUNY Hunter
College. She has worked in nonprofit communications for more than a decade. She
lives in Sunnyside, Queens, with her husband Joe, kids Theo and Melody, and
three cats. eorecchio@gmail.com @elyseorecchio
