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<\/p>\n\u2018Cruel Intentions: The Musical\u2019 Is a Wicked Delight for \u201890s Lovers: REVIEW<\/b>
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These are tough times for sordid sex<\/a> dramas \u2014 especially one involving coercion, deceit, and minors (oh, my!). <\/span>Les Liaisons Dangereuses<\/span><\/i>, last on Broadway in 2016, <\/span>just barely gets away with it<\/span><\/a> for being French, set hundreds of years ago, and featuring adults. <\/span>Cruel Intentions<\/span><\/i>, the 1999 movie that transfers the latter\u2019s ruthless plot of erotic conquest to would-be <\/span>Gossip Girl<\/span><\/i> Manhattan, is great fun \u2014 but also vacuous and a bit perverse.<\/span><\/p>\n Cruel Intentions: The Musical <\/span><\/i>(aptly billed as a \u201cmusical nightlife experience\u201d), which opened downtown last night at (Le) Poisson Rouge, solves all that with a clever and often inspired score of \u201890s pop-rock favorites, whose emo lyrics have never made more sense. (If they ever made sense at all: It\u2019s been decades since we gave up trying to decipher \u201cGenie in a Bottle\u201d or \u201cSex and Candy.\u201d) The musical\u2019s nostalgic score actually brings the story to new heights, supplanting some of its empty cruelty with exactly the kind of soaring, confusing emotions that color teen<\/a> romance. <\/span><\/p>\n Pop music is practically \u2014 if not explicitly \u2014 made for lending words and major chords to teenage<\/a> drama of epic proportions. Co-creators Jordan Ross and Lindsey Rosin (who also directs) assemble a spot-on score of \u201890s gems that accompanied a whole generation of sexual and romantic awakenings, from the smitten passion of Sixpence None the Richer\u2019s \u201cKiss Me\u201d and The Cardigans\u2019 \u201cLovefool\u201d to defiant anthems from Garbage and Melissa Etheridge. Some are made into duets, others serve as earnest ballads of self-expression. <\/span><\/p>\n Quick primer on this prep school saga: Step-siblings Kathryn (a fierce and corseted Lauren Zakrin) and Sebastian (a built, square-jawed Constantine Rousouli) have a Cersei and Jaime Lannister thing going. Their grand scheme involves Kathryn exacting revenge on her ex, Sebastian deflowering the principal\u2019s daughter, and a wager where if Kathryn wins, she gets his Jaguar, and if Sebastian wins, he gets, well.. another kind of sweet ride involving Kathryn.<\/span><\/p>\n Their pawns are Sebastian\u2019s viginal conquest Annette (Carrie St. Louis, theme song: No Doubt\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m Just a Girl\u201d) the naive-turned-nasty Cecile (Jessie Shelton), and her Black music teacher Ronald (Matthew Griffin) \u2014 who get together to the tune of Deep Blue Something\u2019s \u201cBreakfast at Tiffany\u2019s.\u201d In an expanded gay<\/a> subplot, the entrapment turned romance between hipster Blaine (<\/span>Spring Awakening<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u2019s Alex Boniello) and football player Greg (Brian Muller) brilliantly unfolds to boy<\/a> band hits \u201cI Want it That Way\u201d and \u201cBye, Bye, Bye.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Not every number is a home run. TLC\u2019s \u201cNo Scrubs\u201d is greeted by the same nostalgic yelps as all the others, but it doesn\u2019t land, or do much to solve the problem of Cecil\u2019s racist mother (Patricia Richardson of <\/span>Home Improvement<\/span><\/i> fame). When Griffin\u2019s Ronald reprises the song as a sort of clapback, it makes even less sense. <\/span><\/p>\n The screenplay by Roger Kumble (also one of the musical\u2019s creators) remains with its most iconic lines in tact (e.g. Cecile: \u201cHe took down my pants and started writing the alphabet, but he was writing it with his tongue.). The West Village club setting, in addition to being ideal for the young ensemble\u2019s belting talents, is a perfect homage to the movie\u2019s \u201890s Manhattan milieu. The production premiered two years ago in L.A., where it <\/span>earned seals of approval<\/span><\/a> from the film\u2019s stars Sarah-Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair. After a pop-up performance here in February, fortunately for nostalgic New Yorkers, <\/span>Cruel Intentions: The Musical<\/span><\/i> has come home to roost.<\/span><\/p>\n Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar<\/a> The post \u2018Cruel Intentions: The Musical\u2019 Is a Wicked Delight for \u201890s Lovers: REVIEW<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/cruel-3.jpg?resize=480%2C297\")
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\n(photos: jenny anderson)<\/em><\/p>\n