Who’d a thunk it? The music of synth band Depeche Mode would so perfectly fit with the story line of Psycho, although sometimes it was more of the music than the lyrics which fit best.
Originally a novel released in 1959, Psycho was made into a hit horror/thriller film in 1960 directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anthony Perkins with Janet Leigh, which this jukebox musical stage adaptation seems to be mostly based on.
And yes, we’re going to overlook the ‘90s remake.
The premise of the show is just like the original plot, Marion Crane (Jessica Hope) and her boyfriend Sam Loomis (Shea Rafferty) are having a lunchtime romp in a cheap motel – bonus points for Shea’s shirtless scenes; wasn’t he in Rock Hard Revue last year? No, well he should be soon.
As much as they would like to marry, finances prevent them from doing so. Back at the office, Marion sees an opportunity to take a large sum of cash to the bank for her boss while excusing herself to take the rest of the day off.
At this point, Marion goes missing – she’s run off with the money and unsure of what to do she checks into the Bates motel for the night. That’s where she meets the meek Norman Bates (Peter Heid). Although played well enough to pity him, there was a lack of creepiness in this version of Norman – something that came naturally to the onscreen versions like that of Anthony Perkins and, unintentionally, by Vince Vaughn.
After the infamous shower scene, the remaining cast members set out to search for Marion, many of the actors play double roles but tend to remain as one character for the latter half of the show.It was surprising how well the Depeche Mode songs played into the story, even though the movie counterpart had a very memorable musical score.
Although, the synth-heavy music played well, it sometimes came off as overpowering and in the performance I saw, Alyssa Yost who plays Marion’s sister seemed to be the only one projecting enough to be heard over the music.
Despite the minor sound issues, the concept was great and there was certainly a sense of suspense, despite it being a familiar plotline.
Running through May 27 at the Gold Venue. For more information, go to orlandofringe.org.
