Katie Stevens has kept busy in between shooting Seasons 2A and 2B of Faking It. The actress, who most will remember got her start on American Idol, is getting to use her musical chops in The Unauthorized Musical Parody of Cruel Intentions, playing now through July at the Rockwell Table and Stage in Los Angeles.
The show is based on the 1999 film starring Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Sean Patrick Thomas, Christine Baranski, Joshua Jackson and Eric Mabius, and interjects musical numbers from recognizable songs featured on the original soundtrack (The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony,” Counting Crow’s “Colorblind”) as well as other popular tracks from the mid-to-late ’90s (Deep Blue Something‘s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” The Cardigans‘ “Lovefool”). The dialogue is straight from the film, which was a great reminder of how queer it truly was, even if it’s Kathryn’s taunting her step-brother by calling him gay, Sebastian’s manipulation of his homosexual friends or his attempted insults that Annette must be a lesbian if she’s not interested in having sex with him. These moments, pulled straight from the film, clued us into how wretched this family could be, a rare way of presenting homophobic comments at the time.
Katie plays the evil yet beautiful Kathryn Merteuil (aka the role Sarah Michelle Gellar slayed during her time as Buffy), who seduces people and plays with their emotions simply because she can. Clad in a black corset and tight jacket with fitted black skinny jeans and velvet wedge heels, Katie is a fierce femme fatale with a voice to match. Her take on the character is much like Sarah’s, but the addition of songs like No Doubt‘s “Sunday Morning” and Meredith Brooks‘ “Bitch” give her the chance to shine on her own.
In recreating a famous scene with Cecile (played by Selma Blair in the film and Emma Hunton in the musical), Katie sings Sixpence None the Richer‘s “Kiss Me,” which you can watch in the video below.
One interesting part of the musical is that the gay relationship between football player Greg McConnell and secret boyfriend Blaine Tuttle is fleshed out so that there are boy-on-boy duets with Backstreet Boys and Nsync mash-ups. They also join in on numbers with the rest of the cast, and I was pleased to see Underemployed star Jared Kusnitz fully commit to the role of the closeted jock.
A gay BSB duet #everything #cruelintentionsmusical
A video posted by trishbendix (@trishbendix) on Jun 4, 2015 at 8:32pm PDT
Mostly the Cruel Intentions musical is just a lot of fun, especially for fans of the original. (Even Sarah, Reese and Selma loved it.) The added bonus of nostalgia for the best music from close to 20 years ago (already!?) and performances from skilled vocalists make it even more of a treat, especially if you’re already a fan of Katie Stevens. And even though tonight is her last show, another favorite will be stepping in to take on the role:
Should you be interested in a show where you know every word to every line and song and cheer on its queer moments with the lively crowd, this show is for you.
Get tickets now to see The Unauthorized Musical Parody of Cruel Intentions at Rockwell Table and Stage.
