Cam Anthony (Photo credit: Times 10)
Reviewed by F. Kathleen Foley
The Crimson
Through November 2
RECOMMENDED
Blood/Love, the new “rock popera’ at the Crimson in Hollywood, is not simply a musical about vampires although it is certainly that. Make no mistake, this is an Event with a capital “E.”
First, you enter the sprawling venue through a large and well-appointed cocktail bar where you can casually imbibe before progressing into the playing area (not such a well-appointed space. Seats are compactly packed chairs and sightlines can be challenging.) If you’ve attended a 9:30 p.m. show, you then exit through a commodious nightclub where your evening, if you so choose, can continue.
As for the production itself, it has the kind of extravagant elements that bespeak deep pockets behind the scenes. It may not be exactly Broadway caliber, but it is eye candy of a high order.
Playing, appropriately enough, on Hollywood Blvd., the show seems an offshoot of pure Hollywood. Yet despite all the glitz and glamour, this enterprise originated, believe it or not, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where Carey Sharpe, Erin Boehme, and Daniel LeClaire got together to put on a show. After a brief New York run, their brainchild arrives in Los Angeles, just in time for Halloween.
Sharpe, who co-wrote the book and score with Dru DeCaro, stars as Valerie Bloodlove, who hangs out on the hipster scene with her loyal vampire besties, Cleo (Boehme, who also contributed additional music) and Demetrius (Cam Anthony), undead hedonists who live (unlive?) to party hearty and drink blood.
Valerie, a former Queen of Hell (Lilith, perhaps?) has apparently escaped the underworld and now stalks her prey as a vampire on Earth. But her pleasure-seeking rounds are beginning to pall, and she longs for something more.
When she meets Anzick (Brennin Hunt), an up-and-coming rock star with an archetypally sleazy agent (Daniel Franzese), she finds the love and connection she has been missing. But there’s a catch: Anzick has sold his soul to the devil, and to redeem it Valerie must perform the ultimate act of self-sacrifice.
At least, that’s what this reviewer managed to glean from the jumbled plot, which can’t stand much exposure to direct sunlight.
LeClaire, one of the original Oshkosh triumvirate, efficiently helms an elaborate production that has so many moving parts it’s sometimes hard to know where to look. The production elements are excellent, even though lighting designer Tom Sutherland sometimes overdoes the Stygian murk. Accompanied by live musicians (no pun intended), the cast undertakes some 25 original songs with varying degrees of expertise. Co-choreographers Jonathan and Oksana Platero tackle their adagio numbers with an acrobatic athleticism that has the audience roaring its appreciation.
Little matter if there’s little scant structure to this lavish but limited entertainment. Whatever its flaws, the glitzy and ambitious Blood/Love may be just the ticket for those who want to start off the Halloween season with a bloody bang.
The Crimson, 6356 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Thurs.-Sat., 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. thru Oct. 19; Wed.-Sat., 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. from Oct. 23 to Nov. 2. Bloodlove.com 80 minutes with no intermission.
