Khnemu Menu-Ra and Antonio Rodriguez: Origins of Love
Khnemu Menu-Ra and Antonio Rodriguez
Origins of Love
The St. Lou Fringe Festival, St. Louis, MO, 6/25/2015
Reviewed by Chuck Lavazzi for Cabaret Scenes
Origins of Love was a smartly theatrical cabaret starring a pair of actors well known on the local theater scene: Khnemu Menu-Ra (pictured) and Antonio Rodriguez. With a narrative thread assembled from the works of Shakespeare and a song list that ranged from Stephen Sondheim to Trent Reznor to the Lebanese-British singer-songwriter Mika, Origins of Love rang an impressive variety of changes on the theme of love and its discontents.
A well-designed cabaret show will often feel like a one-act play, with a dramatic throughline and possibly the sense, by the end, that you have gone on a journey with the performers. This was exactly that kind of show. It opened with Menu-Ra (pictured), who carried the majority of the show, performing Bottom’s dream speech from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, then moved smoothly and logically to Sondheim’s “Invocation” (cut from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) and finally “High Flying, Adored” from Evita. That last song was performed as a duet with pianist and Musical Director Leah Luciano, whose skill as a singer and musician was also essential to the success of the evening.
From there, the selections from Shakespeare were used to segue among segments on various aspects of love, from juvenile sexual conquest to dark obsession and finally to lighthearted acceptance. The show was filled with impressive moments, including Menu-Ra’s performance of the title song (from Stephen Trask’s score for Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and Rodriguez’s hilarious “As We Stumble Along” (The Drowsy Chaperone). Luciano also had a nice solo on “I’d Rather Watch You,” a clever 1920s pastiche from Joshua Schmidt and Jason Loewith’s score for the 2008 musical adaptation of Elmer Rice’s The Adding Machine.
Kimberly Lawson was credited as the director of Origins of Love. I don’t know how much of this show was hers and how much was Menu-Ra’s, but between them they produced one of the stronger cabarets I’ve seen recently. And I’ve seen some pretty darned good ones.
Origins of Love was presented as part of the St. Lou Fringe Festival in the Grand Center Arts District of St. Louis during the last two weeks of June. For more information on the festival: stlfringe.com.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, Regional, St. Louis, St. Louis Cabaret Reviews
