Screaming women encourage the sexual goings-on at the Hanna
Theatre
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland
Critics Circle)
There are some weird and off-beat goings-on in downtown
Cleveland’s PlayhouseSquare. At
the State, cross-dressers and a transvestite are feverishly dancing and
preening in PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, THE MUSICAL. At the Hanna, witches and warlocks are
cavorting in BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE.
On stage at the Hanna, in SPANK!
THE FIFTY SHADES PARODY, whips, chains, handcuffs and undulating abs
have the mostly 20-something female crowd screaming for more. Yes, female crowd…the farer sex
outnumbered the males by at least 100 to 1.
British author, Ericka Leonard’s Fifty Grades of Grey erotic
novel trilogy (e.g., FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, FIFTY SHADES DARKER and FIFTY SHADES
FREED) has sold 65 million copies, making it the biggest selling paperback
series of all time.
It is, as I was told by Cher, Rachel and Janine, the helpful
trio of beauties sitting behind me, a take-off on all those soft back novels
available in drug stores, that are consumed by women who sit at home consuming
calories and sexual illusions. You
know, the books with the photo-shopped sculpted, gym-toned male studs on the
cover.
In addition, the trio told me that some vignettes in the
FIFTY SHADES books have allusions to the TWILIGHT series, the four
vampire-themed novels by American
author Stephanie Meyer.
I must, in full-disclosure, admit to not having read any of
the Leonard or Meyer books, so little did I know what I was getting in for when
I entered the “she-den,” known most of the time as The Hanna Theatre.
SPANK! THE FIFTY SHADES OF PARODY is a musical written by
seven, yes, seven authors. There
is little music, and the story line, I was told by my bevy of beauties,
parallels the first book and tacks on the ending of the second book. (I have to
trust them that this is true.
Would those cuties lie to me?)
The “story” concerns a woman writer who has the weekend
where her husband and children are off to Disneyland, to write one or more
books aimed at adult women. The
requisites? The novels must
contain lots of sex, sado masochism, sex, fantasy, sex, anatomical and slang
references to about every part of a woman’s body, sex, and some more sex.
The heroine, Anastasia Steele, is created before our eyes by
the writer, who tinkers and adjusts the script as we observe. Ana encounters wealthy, studly, Hugh
Hanson, a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. A man of perfectly formed abs and a
vivid sexual imagination, which centers mostly on s and m. He is beautiful, brilliant and
intimidating, and looks great in his form fitting tiny Batman underwear, that
conceal little, and skin tight jeans, which also leave little to the
imagination.
The innocent Ana longs to be with him, and surrender her
virginity. (Were you expecting
something else?) Huge (I mean
Hugh…hmm…was that a Freudian slip?) wants her, but on his own terms, which is
included in a long contract (like the type Sheldon requires of those with whom
he is in relationship on TV’s THE BIG BANG THEORY). Along the way, the story includes snatches from THE SOUND OF
MUSIC, Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, CHARLEY AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, and
of course, TWILIGHT. This is a
tale of obsession, possession and a night of fantasy when the women viewers go
home and relive the experience through dreams in their own beds.
SPANK! is a hoot for the first half hour. It kind of bogs down after the
titillation is over. It picks up
when Alice Moran (Tasha) goes out into the audience to castigate (or castrate)
the guy in the front row who has the nerve to be texting while the show is
going on, and then ask advice from another audience member about what is proper
to insert into one’s posterior, tushie, butt. (BTW…the woman who was being queried, answered
“Nothing,” but was talked into a modification of her response.)
Suzanne Sole (E. G. Janet) has a great time being the
“writer” of the novel which develops before our eyes. After a while, however, her repeated attempts at sexuality
got a bit much. She has a nice singing
voice, which, unfortunately, didn’t get a lot of use.
Alice Moran (Tasha Woode), has a wonderful wide-eyed
innocence and does well with the humor.
I can assume that the woman would have liked more of
handsome, sensual Gabe Bowling (Hugh Hanson) stripping, bumping, grinding, and
playing Chippendale dancer. Moving
out onto the runway that surrounded the thrust part of the stage might have met
with dollar bills thrust into his Batman briefs. The women who lined up after the show to have their picture
taken with the dangerous dude were loving every minute of it. Some had to be restrained from touching
the merchandise!
CAPSULE JUDGMENT:
SPANK! THE FIFTY SHADES OF PARODY is definitely not a production for
everyone. Twenty-something women,
with maybe a few 30s and 40s thrown in, who have read and love THE SHADES OF
GREY trilogy, want to let loose, have a couple of glasses of wine and scream
and yell, will have a great time.
Others, like this old white guy who hasn’t read the books, should have
been at home!
SPANK! runs through January 27 at the HANNA THEATRE. For tickets call 216-241-6000 or go to
www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
