Would you like to go to a musical about two teenage (18 and 19) Chicago college boys who murder a 14 year-old boy in Chicago for fun?
I thought not, so I went to the Jermyn Street Theatre for you to see Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story. It’s a true story only very slightly tweaked in this production. The murderers are older and their victim younger (12). The details of the crime are accurate, with some theatrical licence to create a plot line.
It was the basis for one of Alfred Hitchcock’s juiciest films: Rope. But why would anyone want to watch Thrill Me? But they did, full house and nobody walked out. I suggest that being a musical made it more palatable. The principle tweak in the show and, only inferred in Rope, is that the murderers are gay. The music, played excellently on a piano, and lyrics are school of Sondheim. It is a gripping ninety minutes.
Last night we watched the first two “chapters” of The Power of the Dog. Jane Campion’s photography and Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of flawed Phil Burbank cannot be faulted; on the other hand the plot seems non-existent, at least so far. The film’s title is a quotation from Psalms, chapter 22, verse 20: “deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog”. I hope that isn’t a spoiler.