Review: THRILL ME - THE LEOPOLD AND LOEB STORY at Theatre On The Bay

It's a fascinating story that on the surface is about a murder, but in reality, it's about obsession and love. THRILL ME - THE LEOPOLD AND LOEB STORY is the recounting of a true crime, but it's really about the why of it all as opposed to who the murderer is. Add to that the layer of telling the story through song, and you have a piece of theatre that is both whimsical and chilling. This is what awaits you at Theatre on The Bay with their production directed by Chris Weare.

This musical seems simple on the surface - two people on stage telling the story and one pianist in the background, providing the excellent score that weaves the narrative together. What isn't simple at all is the depth of the story and the precision required by all three performers (John Conrad, Gianluca Gironi and Jaco Griessel on piano) to walk the line between fantasy and reality.

What I really enjoyed about this musical, written entirely by Stephen Dolginoff, is how it explores the nature of the narrator and whether or not they can ever be reliable. The story starts with a parole hearing for the character Nathan Leopold (Conrad) 33 years after the brutal murder of a young boy. The facts of the murder are known - it's actually a true story from 1924 Chicago and these two men were dubbed the "thrill killers". What the parole board is trying to get Leopold to answer is why they killed the boy. That's when the story starts to flashback to the build up to the murder and the audience is let into the world of these two young men and their obsessions. Of course, this world cannot be believed as true because it is being remembered by only one of the characters - the one who said he was not responsible for the planning and merely went along with it because he was in love with his friend.

Weare's staging and lighting were incredibly effective. I found the way the lights moved and created different zones for performance and different moods through colour and shafts of light through the smoke quite stunning to watch. I particularly loved the setup of the scene where the two men were enticing their soon-to-be murder victim into their car.

To me, THRILL ME - THE LEOPOLD AND LOEB STORY is a fascinating study into the narrator of a story and how that impacts the emotions you feel when watching a show. I actually would so love to see a version of this from Loeb's perspective... The music is beautiful and Jaco Greissel is excellent, as always, as he plays the piano throughout the entire production.

THRILL ME - THE LEOPOLD AND LOEB STORY is on at Theatre on the Bay until 15 March. It then moves to Montecasino Main Theatre for the remainder of the month. Tickets are available via Webtickets for both theatres.

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