That Itchy Feeling? It May Just Be Love ‘Bedbugs!!!’ the Musical Is at the ArcLight Theater
Neil GenzlingerSeptember 15, 2014: “A theatrical blast of fresh air” might seem an odd way to describe a show in which large quantities of (fake) insecticide are sprayed about the stage, but that’s just the right phrase for “Bedbugs!!!,” at the ArcLight Theater. This audacious rock-’n’-roll concoction about mutant bedbugs that terrorize New York City never stops surprising, with its performances, its choreography, its props and special effects. The subject matter may leave you feeling itchy, but with the delirious sensory overload the show provides, you’ll quickly forget the discomfort. Carly (Grace McLean) has a very personal reason for wanting to develop a pesticide to wipe out bedbugs: They were responsible for the death of her mother (Gretchen Wylder). But the compound she comes up with, instead of killing them, turns them into giant bloodsuckers that feast on humans. The resulting gang, or swarm, or whatever a group of bedbugs is called, is led by a glam god named Cimex, played by Chris Hall with such strident panache that of course Carly is going to fall for him. So far, this probably sounds like every other rock musical about bedbugs and exterminator-insect romance that you’ve ever seen. But Fred Sauter (book and lyrics) and Paul Leschen (music) tossed in a little something extra named Celine Dion. Oops, sorry; that name is actually Dionne Salon, and how she and her tacky divahood figure in the plot is too ridiculous to describe here. The performances by Ms. McLean and Mr. Hall are spectacular, so to say that Brian Charles Rooney’s Dionne steals the show is saying quite a lot.
READ THE REVIEW