Ecstasy, The Musical
Wrap your favorite ‘70s musicals in a hormone-soaked, “flowered” tortilla. Take a bite. Feel nauseated for a week.
“Ecstasy, the Musical” is described as “two virginal college students who venture into a sexual land of OZ where anything is possible,” and this is pretty much all we understand of the entire two-hour production. The cast absolutely portrays this musical to be a future cult hit, but as they seem to be having the time of their lives, it’s the direction and writing which fails to let the audience in on the fun.
Gina D’Acciaro (Black Widow) dices up charm and mixes it with loveliness, providing a tasteful treat of excellence, even exceeding the expectation of her fabulous reputation. Meyer deLeeuw (Tom) finally emerges toward the end of the production as a powerful voice, well after we become aware of his engaging style of character performance. The remainder of the cast (Lisa Marinacci, Joshua McBride, Nicci Claspell, Kyle Shepard, Julie Carillo, Ben Bowen, Sharyn Gabriel, Sean Smith, Dina Buglione, and Patrick Hancock) profess their lives into each role, but in this critic’s imaginary world, I wished, “If only they had been doing ‘Godspell.’”