Theatre Three presents Lizzie The Musical

ARTISTIC STAFF DIRECTOR Shyama Nithiananda

MUSIC DIRECTOR Gary Adler

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Claire Greenberg

CHOREOGRAPHY Emily Bernet

SCENIC DESIGNER Jeffrey Schmidt

LIGHTING DESIGNER Aaron Johansen

COSTUME DESIGNER Shahrzad Mazaheri

SOUND DESIGNER Noah Heller

PROPS DESIGNER Sarah Barnes

INTIMACY COORDINATOR Bradley Atuba

CAST

LIZZIE BORDEN Presley Duyck*

EMMA BORDEN Ja’Naye Flanagan

ALICE RUSSELL Lauren Urso Gray

BRIDGET Lauren LeBlanc*

UNDERSTUDY Claire Greenberg

BAND PIANO/CONDUCTOR Gary Adler

GUITAR Eduardo Vélez III

BASS Scott A. Eckert

DRUMS Ashley Westgate

CELLO Javier Betancour

PRODUCTION STAFF STAGE MANAGER Claire Boschert* PRODUCTION ASST Kelechi Imoh AUDIO ENGINEER Dylan Hearn

SPECIAL THANKS Phillip Powers

Isa Flores

Adrian Churchill

Shakespeare Dallas

Lizzie: The Musical Music and Lyrics by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer Lyrics, Book and Additional Music by Tim Maner Music and Additional Lyrics by Alan Stevens Hewitt

My thoughts on Lizzie The Musical at Theatre Three or…there will be blood

One of the most thrilling things to me as a theatre lover is to have a production rock my world and make me want to stand up and cheer. That’s just what happened to me and a couple of hundred other people at the opening of Lizzie The Musical and you should scroll down to the ticket button right now, as this is an “experience” you do not get often.

I call Lizzie an “experience” because it is not a typical musical. Director Shyama Nithiananda’s Lizzie is part elaborately and immersively staged rock concert and part intimate and chilling character study of a killer. The story is in the music and Music Director Gary Adler and his “bloody good” band have the mostly rock score soaring higher than Lizzie’s pigeons. Also “bloody good” is Noah Heller’s sound design that keeps the lyrics clear and audible.

The impressive scenic design by Jeffrey Schmidt features the Borden home with a porch that is basically a runway where most of the action takes place. There are a couple of large, definitely anachronistic “roadie” type trunks on wheels that Choreographer Emily Bernet has the characters use inventively and everything is expertly lighted by Aaron Johansen who occasionally “coats” the stage in red reinforcing Lizzie’s crime.

I have to admit that I often under appreciate the costume design of productions, but I would be remiss not to praise the phenomenal costumes by Shahrzad Mazaheri. These costumes are not only character defining, but also works of art. Notice Emma Borden‘s traveling outfit. Every stitch is perfect. Emma looks like she stepped out of an 1892 issue of Vogue. There’s also Lizzie’s final pristine white costume with its frayed, “feathered” trim that makes all kinds of allusions to Lizzie’s story. I won’t reveal more as watching the parade of amazing costumes is part of the great fun of Lizzie The Musical.

Putting the rock into this rock musical are four powerhouse singer/actors who deliver stunning performances that literally gave me goosebumps. Alice Russell, a neighbor of the Bordens who also has a sexual attraction to Lizzie, is played by the gifted Lauren Urso Gray. Gray’s Alice is a kind, gentle, loving young woman who truly cares for Lizzie. Gray’s beautiful, plaintive “If You Knew” ballad expresses all of Alice’s feelings for Lizzie and the intimate scenes between the two women are touchingly real.

Lauren LeBlanc is Bridget, the Borden’s Irish maid who is sometimes called Maggie. LeBlanc’s resentful Bridget with sleeves pushed up, is a force on stage. Is Bridget the person who first puts murder in Lizzie’s mind with her talk of prussic acid? That’s debatable. But what isn’t debatable are LeBlanc’s remarkable vocals and presence. Bridget is canny, clever, and fairly indifferent to murder and LeBlanc embodies her perfectly.

Emma Borden, played by Ja’Naye Flanagan, is Lizzie’s older sister. Emma is a caring, motherly sister to Lizzie and extremely upset when she finds out her stepmother wants to cut the two sisters out of their father’s will. Flanagan is an appealing actor with a dynamite voice. Emma’s incredulousness over Lizzie’s murder of their father and stepmother explodes in the screamingly hilarious, “What the F**k, Lizzie?” that Flanagan makes one of the highlights of the show.

Presley Duyck is Lizzie Borden. Duyck’s Borden is an angel faced murderer who knows her way around an axe. Duyck literally chews this part up and spits it out. She has the range to deliver it all from tender moments with Alice and Emma to a bloody rampage. And those vocals. Duyck has a belt and intensity in her vocals that had me thinking of everyone from Pink to Pat Benatar to Janis Joplin. Duyck brings so much fire to this role that Theatre Three is going to be smoldering for a long time.

Lizzie the Musical grips you from the moment you enter the auditorium and notice that the brilliant design team has devised a way to make “blood” drip slowly from the ceiling of the theater on to the stage and after the characters appear and sing “The House of Borden,” you know you are going to be in for a murderously fun treat. Don’t miss the “experience” of Lizzie the Musical. You don’t want to make Lizzie angry,

*Take a look at the set @dfwcenterstage TikTok

photos by Jeffrey Schmidt