Inmate Steals a Gentle 'Kiss'

"Kiss of the Spider Woman"

Book by Terrence McNally; music by John Kander; lyrics by Fred Ebb; based on the novel by Manuel Puig; director, Paul Daigneault; music director/conductor, Paul S. Katz; choreographer, David Connolly; set design, Eric Levenson; costume design, Seth Bodie; lighting design, John R. Malinowski; sound design, Matt O'Hare

Featured cast in order of appearance:

Molina, John King
Warden, Sean McGuirk
Valentin, Brendan McNab
Spider Woman/Aurora, Christine A. Maglione
Aurora's Men/Prisoners, Brad Bass, Travis Morin, Anthony Napoletano, Corbitt Williams
Molina's Mother, Beth Gotha
Marta, Veronica Kuehn

Performances: Now through December 3
Box Office: 617-933-8600 or www.BostonTheatreScene.com

When recalling the 1993 Broadway production of Kander and Ebb's triumphant musical, "Kiss of the Spider Woman," how many people are likely to remember that Brent Carver and Anthony Crivello won Tony Awards for their performances as the prisoners Molina and Valentin? Yet no one forgets Chita Rivera in her award-winning – perhaps even legendary – dual role of the sensuous and mysterious title character and the enchanting screen actress Aurora who portrays her.

Well, it won't be the haunting temptress that audiences remember after seeing the SpeakEasy Stage production of "Kiss of the Spider Woman" in Boston. It will be John King's wonderfully guileless and heartbreaking performance as the imprisoned Latin American window dresser Molina that becomes etched in their memories.

Under the intelligent and sensitive direction of the SpeakEasy's producing artistic director, Paul Daigneault, this "Kiss" tones down the glitz and heightens the drama, partly out of necessity – its stage space limits the size and scope of the show's big dance numbers – but also in deliberate service to the story. The result is an intimate, embraceable musical that brings front and center the profound transformation in the relationship of two unlikely cellmates while weaving the enigmatic Spider Woman's intricate web of seduction as a hypnotic and ominous foreshadowing.

"Kiss of the Spider Woman" chronicles the impact that Valentin, a staunch, macho revolutionary, and Molina, the colorful, compassionate gay man with whom he shares a squalid jail cell, have on each other after enduring months of torture together. Valentin, at first disgusted by Molina's "womanly" caring, eventually comes to respect his kindness and his unique ability to endure the prison's inhumanity by escaping into a fantasy world of the movies. Molina, immediately attracted to Valentin but afraid to become too involved in the details of his life as an anarchist, grows more and more daring in his willingness to protect the rebel despite the danger he faces as a result.

As the two men discover qualities in each other that are both heroic and endearing, the dividing line between them – literally drawn on the cell floor in chalk by Valentin to keep Molina at a distance – begins to blur. Eventually they cross into each other's territory with Valentin finally showing tenderness and Molina harnessing an inner courage he never knew he had.

As Molina, John King is simply mesmerizing. He is charming and tender but also assertively sarcastic when making important points to the bearish Valentin. He is at times vulnerable, looking like a young boy who wants to hide under the covers when remembering the fearful Spider Woman character that Aurora played in one film. But he can also be selflessly strong, particularly when tending to Valentin's wounds or attempting to outwit the warden who has enlisted him to spy on his cellmate in exchange for rewards.

King's performance is mercurial as he reveals the many facets of Molina's complex character. He teases Valentin with a flippant, flamboyant femininity but then transforms into a joyous shadow image of the elegant Aurora as he brings her, and her many movies, vividly to life. Then, just as quickly, he'll stiffen with terror when Aurora's Spider Woman invades his fantasies. He cowers from her insistent temptations for a kiss, fearing the chilling darkness that her cloaked friendship forebodes.

Christine A. Maglione as Molina's larger than life screen idol is perfectly suitable in the role but doesn't set the stage on fire the way she should with her campy production numbers "Her Name Is Aurora," "Where You Are" and "Gimme Love." She looks and sounds a lot like Chita Rivera and even exhibits some sultry dance moves, but the star spark is missing and she ultimately suffers by the inevitable comparison. As the Spider Woman, she is more of a presence. Her prologue with the prisoners/chorus boys, her seductive "Come," her trio with Molina and Valentin called "Anything for Him," and the prophetic title song create a hovering sense of inevitable doom laced with an oddly comforting air of tranquility.

As Valentin, Brendan McNab ably captures the obsessive passion, shame, and ultimate humanizing of his proud revolutionary and fiercely reveals the anger that social hypocrisy breeds with his inspiring anthem, "The Day After That." Veronica Kuehn plays his concerned lover Marta who teams up first with Molina's mother, played lovingly by Beth Gotha, then with Aurora, then with Molina's mother again to sing the beautifully soothing ballads "Dear One," "I Do Miracles" and "You Could Never Shame Me."

Brad Bass, Travis Morin, Anthony Napoletano and Corbitt Williams make up a solid quartet of male prisoners/dancers who back Maglione in her production numbers. Sean McGuirk is an appropriately oily warden who hides his unspeakable cruelty under a cloak of civility and false promises, and the rest of the ensemble lends strong voice and irony to many numbers, most notably "Over the Wall" and "The Day After That."

Eric Levenson's multi-leveled and audience invading prison set, Seth Bodie's alternately gritty and stylish costumes, and John R. Malinowski's moody scene lighting all translate the show's intersection of fantasy and reality into evocative visuals that rivet the attention on intimate relationships and personal revolutions. This "Kiss of the Spider Woman" doesn't knock the audience out of its seat. Instead it draws the viewer into its web and beguiles with memorable performances and penetrating emotion.

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