The Demon Doctor of West 63rd Street is bumping off victim after victim at the Broadwater Theatre in Vanessa Claire Stewart and Ryan Thomas Johnson’s deliciously horrorific Deadly, or as I like to call it, Murder Castle, the H.H. Holmes Musical.

Long before Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy wreaked their particular brand of havoc, Henry Howard Holmes, MD (1861–1896) went on a murder spree to put even Sweeney Todd to shame.

Book writer/lyricist Stewart* and composer Johnson take us back to the Windy City circa 1890, where the homicidal physician (Keith Allan) and his jack-of-all-trades accomplice Benjamin Pitezel (David LM McIntyre) have set about building the now infamous Murder Castle, equipping it with soundproof rooms to mask screams, private gas chambers for hands-free extermination, chutes leading straight down to acid vats and a crematorium, and all of this just a stone’s throw from the upcoming Chicago World’s Fair.

Stewart and Johnson mine these grisly ingredients for their full dramatic potential with two simultaneously running plot threads, the first focusing on Holmes’ interrogation by police detective Frank Geyer (Eric Curtis Johnson).

Deadly’s second plot thread is propelled by the victims themselves, listed here in order of demise:

Lizzie Sommers (Brittney S. Wheeler), who arrived at Henry’s World’s Fair Hotel looking to pick up the pieces of her life.

Evelyn Stewart (Kristyn Evelyn), who came to Chicago in search of adventure and found lodging in the most unfortunate of inns.

Emeline Cigrand (Cj Merriman), who nursed Benjamin back to relative sobriety only to make the unfortunate decision to follow him to Chicago and a more liberated life.

Minnie Williams (Samantha Barrios), a frisky Texas gal with matrimony to Holmes on her mind regardless of what her staid, devout sister Anna (Rebecca Larsen) has to say.

Julia Conner (Erica Hanrahan-Ball), seeking lodging for herself and her daughter Pearl (Ashley Diane) while seeking employment for a husband too preoccupied with the horses to do it on his own.

These seven victims join voices as a ghostly Greek Chorus in an attempt to put an end to Holmes’ murder spree, and if that fails, to at least ensure that the truth gets spoken at last.

If the man widely considered America’s first known serial killer seems an unlikely topic for a musical, then you probably aren’t familiar with the Sondheim and/or Tim Burton/Johnny Depp oeuvre, and if H.H. Holmes’ name seems unfamiliar to you, it’s perhaps equally surprising that Hollywood hasn’t yet turned his murder spree into a movie or mini-series.

Stewart (who’s already distinguished herself as a writer with the bio-musical Louis And Keely: Live At The Sahara and the bio-play Stoneface) and Johnson (who scored Stoneface) have come up with a dramatic, eclectic blend of songs to fit their fact-and-urban-legend-based mix of murder, the macabre, and occasional comedic spice provided by the Texas-twangy Williamses, the entire shebang adding up to as polished a World Premiere musical as any pre-Broadway Ahmanson tryout aided in large measure by Jaime Robeldo’s imaginative, incisive direction.

Though the utter horror of Holmes’s multiple murders might be even more horrifying were he played by an actor closer to the serial killer’s real-life age (barely thirty when he began his spree and a mere thirty-four when executed), the more seasoned Allan embodies the gentleman/cad/ne’er-do-well with abundant power and charisma and some quite respectable baritone pipes that don’t get near enough songs to befit a leading role.

McIntyre’s achingly tormented, all too eager-to-please Benjamin and Johnson’s staunchly unrelenting Frank provide topnotch masculine support.

Still, with the lioness’s share of songs allotted to the women, it’s the murder victims who shine brightest, from Wheeler’s heartbreakingly devastated Lizzie to Evelyn’s high-note-hitting, Ferris Wheel-loving Evelyn to Merriman’s warm but steely Emeline.

Hanrahan-Ball’s wounded-bird Julia and Diane’s believably precocious tween Pearl are terrific too as is Larsen’s refined Southern-belle Anna, with highest comedic/vocal marks going to the absolutely fabulous Barrios’s über-perky Minnie.

Musical director Johnson elicits all-around tight harmonies and a number of powerful vocals backed by a formidable instrumental foursome**, with Cricket S. Myers showing off her accomplished sound design expertise and choreographer Brin Hamblin meriting dance snaps as well.

Scenic designer Stephen Gifford’s movable-scaffolding-based set, lit with blood-red effectiveness by Andrew Schmedake and enhanced by Corwin Evans’ dramatic-meets-creepy projections does just enough, then allows our imagination to fill in the horrifying blanks.

Costume designer Linda Muggeridge earns cheers both for her realistic period wear and for the 1890s rags that take their place when living souls become the living dead.

Additional design/creative kudos are shared by Brandon Clark (props), Kat Bardot (hair and makeup), and Jo Ann Mendelson (fight choreographer).

French Stewart shares the role of Benjamin with McIntyre. Lisa Dyson, Shaina Hammer, John Haegele, Sydney Hawes, Heather Roberts, and Leigh Wulff are understudies. Evelyn is fight captain and Merriman is dance captain.

Deadly is produced for Sacred Fools by Brian W. Wallis. K.J. Middlebrooks and French Stewart are associate producers. Marisa O’Brien is assistant director. Sofija Dutcher is stage manager and Shea Bahnsen and Thi Nguyen are assistant stage managers. Marisa Whitmore is sound engineer.

Though I’m not entirely convinced that Deadly is the best title to sell the H.H. Holmes musical after its Sacred Fools run, it’s a great start for a show that could easily go on well beyond The Broadwater. It’s that murderously good.

*additional lyrics by Trey Perkins and Guy Picot
**Zachary Bernstein, Lisa Davis, Katt Newlon, Brenda Varda

The Broadwater Main Stage, 1076 Lillian Way, Hollywood.
www.SacredFools.org

–Steven Stanley
September 14, 2019
Photos: Jessica Sherman Photography

Tags: H.H. Holmes, Los Angeles Theater Review, Ryan Thomas Johnson, Sacred Fools Theater Company, Vanessa Claire Stewart