Home Show Cruel Intentions The 90s Musical

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Welcome.
My name is Rob.
I am the executive producer of the Clubhouse Podcast and we're going to talk about a musical
that's based on a movie.
It's based on another movie.
It's based on a French movie.
It's based on a book.
So you got that gone for you, which is nice.
I'm not alone in the studio joining me in the co-host chair is my co-host and a man
who believes he has the best of intentions.
He is chat.
Welcome sir.
You okay over there, sir?
That was great.
That was really great.
Running out the dais is a man who remembers the 90s, but only because he was a teenager.
He is Alex.
Welcome sir.
And I wasn't even a teenager for all of them.
You were not.
Most of it though.
Good chunk of it.
Good portion.
Good chunk of it.
I remember this movie.
Whatever we do one of these.
Oh, you're shows.
Number 461 for those of you playing the home game.
It is to review something and this is no exception.
However, I'm the only one that can talk about it.
Go me.
I have a microphone.
Currently playing through Sunday, May 26th at the Wiley Theater in downtown Dallas.
And hear me because I'm not making this up.
This is what this is.
All intentions, the 90s musical, and we want to thank everybody over at the AT&T Performing
Arts Center.
We love our vendors so much.
They let us come see stuff and we get to talk to you guys about them.
And this is a quick run.
So we want to make sure we get this review out quickly.
So if you remember cruel intentions came out in 99.
This was an American younger version remake of dangerous liaisons, which came out in
186, I believe so, starring Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer and the Glenn Close, which
is a remake of a French film, which is based on a French film, which is the French four
dangerous liaisons dangerous liaisons dangerous liaisons dangerous liaisons dangerous liaisons.
You're out of there?
88.
Okay.
So basically your storyline is you have two step siblings, Sebastian and Catherine, which
in the film were Ryan Philippi and Sarah Michelle Geller respectively.
They have a weird relationship.
Understatement, but they both basically and they live in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
They're high schoolers and they just enjoy ruining people's lives and conquests and things
of that nature.
So you're saying they don't have good intentions?
They're very cruel and so the school is getting a new headmaster and the headmaster has
a daughter who did an interview in 17 magazine about her virtue and how it shall stay intact
until she's in love.
So and her name is Annette Hargrove.
And so the siblings, the step siblings make a bet that Sebastian can or cannot deflower
this girl.
If he cannot, Catherine gets his vintage 1958 Jaguar.
Beautiful car.
Well, you don't see it in this production.
Still a beautiful car?
Yes, still a beautiful car.
If he does, let's just say that there's a lot of adult content in this particular show.
You can look up his part of the bet if you want to.
Is this a family show?
Yeah.
So while this is going on, you've got another young girl whose mother has asked her to, has
asked Catherine to take her under her wing and she was destroying her at the same time.
To get back at her ex.
Let's just say this up front.
If you take the kids, you are taking the gamble.
If no, let's, let's go further.
If you're taking the kids, you're a terrible parent.
I will, unless your kids are grown, even then you're just a weird parent.
But the thing about this, this is a jukebox musical and I've never been to a jukebox musical
before.
Well, I mean, I guess dirty dancing counts, kind of sort of, but dirty dancing with a
dirty dancing soundtrack.
Well, to clarify a jukebox musical, it's modern, it's music of the time, correct?
It's songs you know versus original music, that's why I don't really consider dirty dancing
to be a jukebox musical because it's songs from dirty dancing.
So you don't consider Mama Mia a jukebox musical because that's the definition of a jukebox
musical.
Okay.
In some respects, yes, but this is more of a pure jukebox musical because it's not focused
on one artist like Mama Mia or moving out, which is the Billy Joel musical or beautiful,
which is more of a biopic because it's all Carol King.
This is more genre based versus artist based.
I guess $1,000,000 quartet, what kind of count?
Kind of sort of, but that's not really a jukebox musical, but again, you're focused on
those artists.
These artists have nothing to do with the story, but it's all 90s music.
Basically, if you've seen Moulin Rose, you get the bit.
Right.
Yeah.
Well played.
Never seen a live on stage, but I saw the movie, so I don't count that.
Right.
Knowing, having seen cruel intentions when it came out in theaters 20 years ago, oh good
lord.
This is a dark film like as crazy as the subject matter is, when you see dangerous liaisons,
it's a period piece.
Right.
Yes.
So you kind of deal with it within the rails of its period piece.
Cruel intentions was at the time a modern day film, so it takes a much, much, much darker
tone to it.
So going into this, first of all, it was 90s night at the Wiley, and so my friend Patricia
came with me.
She got a snap bracelet or a slap bracelet when we, when we signed in that had feathers
on it and stuff.
Oh, we took a picture.
I had a little be kind rewind thing in front of me and they had a 90s DJ after the show
that did a great job.
I heard a little bit of it.
It's been a long, because you know, I'm old.
But as we walked into the auditorium at the Wiley, the big room, very smokey, because
there's a lot of smoke in this, because of the lights and everything.
They were playing 90s music before the show and during the intermission, but none of
the songs that are featured in the musical.
So it starts out and it felt really awkward to me because my expectation was this was
going to be following the storyline, and it does.
But the thing about it is this thing's tongue is so firmly implanted and it's cheeky
almost comes out the other side, not not to the point of parody, but it has lighter moments
because it's still got the darkness is still very adult oriented.
Make no mistake, but as it come off as like self aware, like it knows what it is and
on a certain level, yes, but on a certain level, there's moments where it does.
But not overall, but there's a really nice balance to it.
So once I realized that this wasn't going to be as dark as the film, there's still darkness
to it.
Don't get me wrong.
It's kind of unavoidable, but it's not like not to the level of the film.
Now there were certain moments where people were laughing, but they were like, should I
be laughing?
There's the guilty pleasure, but I will tell you, don't look up the song list before
you go, because in the program we had, they weren't in order.
They were just an alphabetical order by title, right, which I really wish I hadn't looked
at it before I walked in because to watch the story unfold and to see it like to hear
the music as a circus, it's a live three piece band that's behind the stage.
And they're really good to hear how they transition into certain songs.
Like there were some ladies next to me at one point, a song started and they were like,
oh, dear, but there are out there's only one or two songs I didn't know, and that's
saying something.
I mean, the 90s kind of are wheelhouse.
Yeah, very much.
80s, 90s is our wheelhouse.
And you were a DJ for 21 years on and off.
I mean, technically almost 30 now, but to pull this off, you have to have a good cast.
There are 10 people in this cast.
A lot of them are ensemble with you.
I would say probably three of them are ensemble.
This cast is rock solid of Jeffrey Kringer plays a Sebastian Kringer Kringer.
He looks like Philippi, for the costuming is dead on, all the costuming is dead on.
But he owns the role enough that he's not trying to be Philippi, which I respect.
Yeah.
Then you have Taylor Pearlstein playing Catherine.
And I said in my written review, located at www.theclubhousepodcast.com.
That's our website.
Her performance would make Sarah Michelle Geller stand up and take notice.
She is all in, brother.
She is all in when she's on that stage.
Then you've got Betsy Stewart who plays the role of a net who was played by the Reese
Witherspoon in the film.
I felt she was better.
You felt the, that Betsy Stewart played the role better.
Okay.
I wanted to clarify which she really, I was able to see her character evolution better.
Okay.
And her voice, dude, good night.
She owned the room, whatever she's saying.
Awesome.
Like, you, you could have her to pin drop from 50 yards out when she was singing.
And she had enough power behind it that she was able to contain the room.
She's really, really good.
There's a subtle brilliance to that because you have that character that's supposed to
be so muted, but he's supposed to be, why is this our focal point, especially from the
plot standpoint?
Right.
So whoever did the casting on this needs a shot as well.
There's a lot of really good give and take here.
Then you've got a Brooks singer who plays Seely Caldwell or Caldwell.
It's Caldwell.
I can't read from here.
But she is, she plays the Selma Blair role, right.
Here's the thing about the way she plays it.
It's kind of neat because she almost plays it as, oh, she kind of almost does play it
as the comic relief.
The only thing I will give you is her performance in the beginning of act two.
And again, I'm not even giving away the songs because to see the songs as they happen, I
think is the best way to see this.
First song at the beginning of act two, I almost fell on the ground laughing.
And I just can't.
But there's also a really neat interplay with some of the characters too, where at one point
Sebastian singing a certain song and then a net sings a different song and a different
point in the musical.
But when they're together, they're both seeing their respective songs and how they meld
together.
It's really well done.
There's a really great medley at the end of act one that just nails it.
There's nothing I did not like about this musical.
I could.
I just, I really, I had a lot of fun.
Again, this is not for the quaint because this thing, there are no such thing as pulled
punches in this.
There are, it's very adult material.
Now there's no, there's a, okay, there's a little bit of nudity.
But it's, there's a scene where Sebastian gets a net to go swimming with him.
Ah, the skinny dipping scene.
Yes.
Well, no, they don't.
Well, it's in the movie, isn't it?
It's a skinny dipping scene?
No.
Okay.
No, no.
He says he's going to change into his swimming suit.
He walks up to talk to him and he's, he's facing away from the audience, but he is naked.
Okay.
So you see him completely from the back.
But again, very adult material.
If you can't handle this, I would say watch the movie and then decide, is this something
I want to do?
If you, if you're good with the movie, this is wonderful.
And if you're not, don't do it.
If the material in the movie makes you uncomfortable, this, this musical will make you uncomfortable
because it's, it's, it's out there, brother.
I can go a lot to you.
Actually, there may be just one particular scene from the movie that could give you the
give and take.
And that's the most famous scene from a film with the Soma Blair and Sarah Michele
Geller.
Yes.
Oh, the end.
How does that play on stage?
Oh, it doesn't know.
I'm going to mute the mics and tell you what song they played during that.
So hold on a second.
And it's a duet.
Well, actually, actually, the way they play that's really neat because there's three different
scenes going on at the same time, but they're all dealing with the same thing, which is
really kind of neat the way they did that.
I really, really, really enjoyed this.
Oh, it sounds like it's tons of fun.
I mean, and it's, it's two hours with the intermission.
Really?
Yeah.
Two hours with the intermission.
And this was a seven o'clock show.
So even got out a little bit earlier than we're used to.
You know, while he's a great facility for this, because I don't know if this would play
as well in a larger room, and the way it needs to be intimate.
I wouldn't say intimate, but the while is a good and the way they configured it for the
while he is everything's on the stage.
There's no, there's no runway out.
Oh, all right.
So it was set up in their auditorium style of seating.
But this is just really good.
It's a lot of fun watching songs start and just watching people go, oh, I'm going to
be like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
And it's not like why would you put this song here every song fits to where it's going to
be.
Nice.
Like, if you didn't know any better, you would think this is the soundtrack for this movie.
They wrote the song for the film.
Yeah, and everybody in this is amazing.
I will definitely talk about John Bataglia, say, I'm going to say, I know I killed that.
and David Wright's interactions are really, really good.
They do it due out of two different songs that,
yeah, it's all I'm saying.
Oh, okay, all right.
Again, I don't want to, don't put this up on Wikipedia
if you're gonna go see it.
Just go see it, keep your program closed
until afterwards.
Because you just, and there's also a amazing performance
by Betsy Stewart late in the second act,
which is, as the, as the story's going to a fever pitch,
there's a song that she sings that karaoke
almost tried to ruin for me,
but it's been long enough that I'm okay with it again.
But the music's, I would love to sit down
with the people that wrote it and go,
okay, so what kind of songs did you try to get you couldn't?
Yeah, because there's a couple of songs that I,
I was like, there's no way this is not in there.
That worked.
So I would be interested to talk to the people behind this
to see what they, you just pick their brain a little bit
and say, like, how long, first of all,
how long did it take you to outline this?
I bet you could probably find that on some streaming platform.
Or if they want to come be interviewed.
I will interview it.
I can do, I have the technology literally to do that.
I'm just saying, any other questions to them
before we get to the file analysis?
I actually have an interesting one that goes along
with what you were talking about with the songs.
Please do.
Do you think that somebody was watching the movie
and thought, I wonder if you'd fit a musical into that
or do you think that they started off
with the idea of the story and made it a musical
that happened to be cruel intentions?
I think somebody was watching the movie one day and went.
That's what would work.
That's what that song is.
I would like to see more of this, honestly.
Oh, it sounds great.
I really dig the idea.
I love the concept of this and I would like to see it
more done with, like, because Mama Mia,
that's the story that revolves around the material.
Moving out, it's on the rock of ages,
revolves around the material.
I want to see more of this.
I couldn't tell you offhand what I'd like to see it done with.
That's probably the hard part or we would see it on it now.
But I would love to see more stuff like this
because this was so much fun,
where it's just teetering on that parody
without going of the full board.
You still get the story, but it is just fun.
It's wicked, it's evil, it's wonderful.
That's the best way to say it.
Alex, look at this, I'm saying.
We'll discuss off air.
I think I have an idea for a movie with some...
Okay, it's fair, let's get to the final analysis.
The way we do the final analysis on the show,
we're not gonna give you thumbs up, thumbs down,
letter grades, numbers, rows, rebeds, anything like that's...
Special rows, rebeds?
Are they easy?
I'm just saying, if you know what I'm talking about.
Two questions, maximum.
Question number one is, would I see this again?
If the answers know, then we're done here.
But since this is a stage show,
the question becomes if I say yes,
where would I be willing to sit?
So Rob, yes, would you see cruel intentions
the musical again?
I would, I would go right now if I could.
And how far would you go?
I'm not gonna say front row,
but not from a cost standpoint.
Okay.
Front row in this production is too close.
You feel like you'd miss the...
Your field of vision to focus in one spot.
Right.
I would love to sit dead center
and just kind of take it all in.
This sounds like one that would be good
from the balcony.
That's what I was from.
That's what I was from.
That's what I was from.
I've never been up there,
but I don't know.
I would wanna be right dead middle,
just because there's so much going on.
And it's just, this is so much fun.
It just is.
Go.
Very sturdy fun.
It really is.
And you just,
there's a moment where you go, oh dear.
And there's other moments where you're laughing.
Like it's just really, really well done.
It is at the Wiley through May 26th.
It is cruel intentions, the 90s musical.
Thank you to everybody at the AT&T performing arts center.
We are huge fans of all of you.
You guys do an amazing job.
Thank you for letting us be a part of the press course
so we can see stuff so we can talk about them.
All right?
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