Silence! The Musical, a hilarious satire on the film "Silence of the Lambs" by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan (music & lyrics) and Hunter Bell (book), pushes the boundaries of what one can say (or sing) on the stage -- yea even beyond The Book of Mormon." Jenn Harris gives a brilliant comic performance as Clarice Starling, the FBI fledgling, with the sshhushing of "S" sounds like Jodi Foster, the Starling in the movie, and with nuances of expression in which a half-raised eyebrow sets off laughter in the audience. She's a rare bird, this Starling - totally convincing, totally immersed in her character, yet able to physically convey subtle internal shifts that give us the gift of laughter.
Brent Barrett, who plays Hannibal Lecter, is a handsome powerful, dynamic Broadway singer/actor with presence and voice that fill the theater. Starting with a chorus of lambs who reappear as many other fun characters, and again as lambs (with a full camp sensibility), the show follows the plot points of the movie as Hannibal is recruited to help stop a serial killer who has kidnapped a young girl (played by the terrific Broadway singer Lucia Spina).
Set by Scott Pask, lighting by Jeff Croiter and costumes by David Kaley complete the picture perfectly. Add the gorgeous dancer Ashlee Dupré held aloft by Callan Bergmann in a dream-sequence dance that is both physically beautiful and comedic, and we have a fully realized, outrageous, delightful contemporary musical, directed and choreographed with splash, with dash, and with great insight into comedy by Christopher Catelli, for a today audience not offended by a shocking image or two or word or three.
