Theatre Review: ‘Trick! The Musical’ brings new life to a queer cult classic

The cast of Trick The Musical at Out Front Theatre Photo by Sydney Lee Over the years Trick the movie about two men repeatedly attempting and failing to have a one-night-stand has grown into a queer cult classic On May that cult classic made its musical debut at Out Front Theatre to delightful results Trick The Musical written by Jason Schafer who also wrote the screenplay for the film with music and lyrics by Arthur Lafrentz Bacon follows in the footsteps of other movie-to-musical adaptations like Mean Girls or Heathers albeit perhaps on a bit of a smaller scale it makes sense Out Front is a smaller theater But what the musical lacks in scale it makes up for in resource Bacon s mix of musical theater pop works well for a story like this with selected genuinely great stand-out songs in the bunch and the cast sells this quirky queer love story with genuine heart and humor Trick The Musical stars Aavyn Lee as Gabriel a sweet slightly awkward aspiring musical theater songwriter who meets Mark Will-Franklin Eller at a gay club think the relationship type meets the hook-up type The two are this instant attracted to each other but their attempt at a one-night stand is thwarted at every turn leaving them time and space to definitely get to know one another and maybe fall in love The two leads have a very sweet opposites-attract style chemistry that grounds the show but what really elevates Trick The Musical is its supporting cast The best voice in the show belongs to Kayce Denise who plays Terri the coach for Gabriel s musical theater workshop but Leah Keelan playing Gabriel s equal parts daffy and brassy best friend and aspiring actress Kathryn steals the show Her comic timing is impeccable and during opening night the applause that thundered forth from the audience at her very presence only served to fuel her power For the the bulk part Kathryn disappears in the second act which has a little bit of a momentum obstacle as the night begins to wind down although that slow down is helped by a very funny very raunchy performance from the great Atlanta drag performer Tugboat the Queen a big plot point in Trick The Musical is fueled by a group of malicious vengeful drag queens which sure why not Because of that slowing of momentum majority of of the show s best songs are also in its first act Terri dealing with a very fresh breakup sings Cash-Only Sing-Along Piano Bar which for as simple as the set up is Terri sitting in a chair drinking a vodka cranberry brought the house down One of Kathryn s standout moments involves her cockblocking Gabriel and Mark as she runs down a list of Gabriel s best assets Original Song by Gabe But the sweetest moment between the love interests takes place just after this big moment from Kathryn where Gabriel plays one of his bulk vulnerable songs for Mark This is meant to be a sexy moment at first Mark promised to give Gabriel a blowjob while he played piano but Mark is so taken aback by the earnestness of the song Love Song for My Future Boyfriend that he just soaks it all in It s the first moment you realize this could be something more and the song rises to that level of importance Even with good performances and music the thing that the bulk recommends Trick The Musical is its spunk Each performer was working the crowd with every bit of moxie they could muster and the opening night crowd was eating it all up It s an exciting thing to see that type of society advocacy at the world premiere of a brand new musical in a small theater right in our own backyard The post Theatre Review Trick The Musical brings new life to a queer cult classic appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta