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| Ryan McCabe (seated), Justin Carrell (lying) (photo courtesy Billie Wildrick) |
Kiss of the Spider Woman
SecondStory Repertory
Through April 13
SecondStory Rep has taken on a huge challenge in its
production of Kiss of the Spider Woman.
The musical with book by Terrence McNally and music by John Kander and lyrics
by Fred Ebb is a dark, edgy undertaking, though it has some beautiful music and
a morally uplifting message.
The musical is the story of two cell mates in a Latin
American prison: Valentin (Justin Carrell), a Marxist revolutionary, and Molina
(Ryan McCabe), a gay window dresser. At first, Valentin draws a line down the
middle of their small cell in antipathy to the talkative and effusive Molina. Molina
escapes their dark world into a fantasy world of the movies and a screen star
he loves named Aurora.
But first, a “praise warning!” I am about to extol the
virtues of Mr. Ryan McCabe.
Ryan McCabe’s time is now! His performance in Spider Woman
is perfection and would be perfect no matter whose production he starred in,
whether SecondStory or Village or 5th Avenue. He has toiled in the
trenches of Seattle’s musical theater companies and proven his value over and
again. He is the perfect age and in perfect voice for this role. So, kudos to
SecondStory for choosing this musical and allowing him his starring vehicle.