About 15 years ago, when I read Dante's Inferno (I actually read the entire Divine Comedy) along with the copious notes explaining all the characters, I thought, 'This is pretty cool, but it would be awesome if someone did a modern update with references a modern audience can get.' And now the Thrillpeddlers have done just that, in about the most outrageous way possible, in reviving a play that was written...15 years ago, about the time I read the Inferno! Whoooaaah!
Anyway, this glam-rock musical version is a crazy trip, breezily taking you through all 9 circles courtesy of the Hellavator. Xaron is the guide for knocked-out nightclub singer Dante and her new-found friend Virgil. The dead characters range all over history and pop culture, from Cleopatra to the lesbian couple of Mama Cass and Karen Carpenter (opposites attract?) From Lucrecia Borgia to Joan of Arc to Aimee Semple MacPherson (look it up.) All the time with wild costumes (or...parts of costumes) and comedic songs. All the while they're plagued by Furies and Demons, and like any good Thrillpeddlers show, they get right up into the audience (even to play with one's luxurious hair.) What fun.
And if their publicist hasn't announced it yet, let me get the scoop and tell you all that it's run (which was supposed to end soon) has been extended through September 12th! Awesome!
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