Kiss Of The Spiderwoman : The Musical

By Angie Bedford

Kiss Of The Spiderwoman : The Musical

There are very few occasions where I am so captivated with a musical that I forget to take furious notes while I am watching. This was the case with the opening night of SHooSH! Productions’ Victorian Premiere of Kiss of the Spiderwoman which is a must see.

When asked to name one of Kander and Ebb’s musicals, most people would think immediately of Cabaret and Chicago, the duo’s juggernaut musicals that have played the world stage and screen.

Kiss of the Spiderwoman may be a lesser known show, but took out the 1993 Tony Award for Best Musical along with gongs for its cast, led by the venerable Chita Rivera, who portrayed the marathon title role at the young age of sixty!

Kiss of the Spiderwoman tells the dark tale of Luis Alberto Molina (Samuel Kitchen) and Valentin Arregui Paz (Shaun Kingma), cellmates in a dank prison in an unnamed Latin American country. Molina, a homosexual window dresser is serving the third year of an eight year sentence for ‘corrupting’ a minor – male. Valentin is a Marxist revolutionary who is being tortured and interrogated as a suspected terrorist.

In order to ignore the cries of the other prisoners (and to add a lot more sparkle and optimism to the show!), Molina often recalls his childhood, where his Usherette mother (a lovely performance by Beryle Frees) would let him sit in the front row of the cinema, thus developing a love for the leading lady Aurora.

Molina re-enacts and evokes Aurora’s many roles, but is haunted by her portrayal of the Spider Woman, a mysterious woman with a fatal kiss, and he senses her presence in the prison. Although initially put off by Molina’s flamboyancy and storytelling, Valentin also seeks solace through memories, in the form of his upper-class lover, Marta (Sarah Watson).

As Molina is enlisted by the Prison guards to extract details from Valentin, their relationship evolves.

Kiss of the Spiderwoman is a filled with dark and sensitive themes that in the hands of lesser performers may be unrealised and misunderstood by the audience. Fortunately, SHooSH! have assembled a stellar cast who do the musical justice.

At the helm was the talented Samuel Kitchen as Molina. From the outset, Kitchen beautifully embodied this damaged character, and skilfully invited the audience into Molina’s fantasies. He sang the challenging role with ease. Kitchen’s scope in this role is remarkable, whether in the flamboyant “Dressing them Up” or as the disrespected “piece of shit” prisoner.

Shaun Kingma was the perfect fit for Valentin. Kingma’s characterisation of this polarising character was superb. His thick and gruff accent contrasted wonderfully with his striking voice, at its best in the rousing “The Day After That”.  Both Kitchen and Kingma spent the majority of the long show on stage, and didn’t miss a beat. I know who I’d be casting in a professional production of the show.

Rosa McCarty took on the dual roles of Aurora/Spiderwoman.  McCarty’s rich voice suited the role, and she moved well. Her distinction between the two roles was clear, and she is to be commended for her stamina throughout her numerous song and dance routines.

I enjoyed Zak Brown as the Warden, who served as both a narrator and an antagonist to the central characters, and was a sinister presence. Will Hanley as Gabriel, Molina’s love interest on the outside world, sang the heartbreaking “Gabriel’s Letter” giftedly.

The small all-male ensemble delivered some of the best male vocals I’ve heard in years, with tight harmonies and solos giving all the boys a chance to shine, a credit to Musical Director Christine Munro. We didn’t miss a beat, thanks to Marcello Lo Ricco’s flawless sound design.

The key to the success of this production of Kiss of the Spiderwoman is the across-the-board attention to detail from Co-Directors Nathan Firmin (who also choreographed the show) and Brad Fischer. The small Cromwell Road Theatre stage didn’t inhibit the production values, with Firmin’s choreography cleverly using a very small downstage space to its full potential, at its best in “Morphine Tango”. The upstage area was used to confine Molina and Valentin’s story to the dark cell.

A series of prison frames provided an ominous framework as well as functional cells for the inmates. Firmin and Susan Schulz’s costumes were amazing, from functional prisoner garb to Aurora/Spiderwoman’s countless costumes; her white suit ensemble and silver sequinned dress standouts.

The makeup changes to create Aurora/Spiderwoman did not go unnoticed, nor did the beautiful colour hues in the Spiderwoman’s dress. The production team is to be commended for consistency across all design areas of the show.

Kiss of the Spiderwoman is a welcome addition to the Midsumma festival, and is my pick to be one of Melbourne’s best musicals this year. Don’t miss it!

Kiss Of The Spiderwoman : The Musical is now playing at Cromwell Road Theatre, South Yarra until February 12. Tickets: 9408 1350