Review: Nefarious!

Nefarious is an adjective meaning extremely wicked or villainous. In Corn Production’s of Nefarious!, written and directed by Corn Productions company member Miquela A. Cruz, the evil (or nefarious, if you will) supervillianess Lilith has something big planned for Metropalopolis on the one-year anniversary of her destruction of Miss Cosmo. It’s up the Superstar Hot Hero Club, led by Mr. Bulleit and his sidekick Dr. Watts to stop the launch of Pandora (2.0) and put an end to Lilith once and for all and save their fair Metropalopolis.

The set in the intimately-sized theatre at the Cornservatory is set in an L-shape with simple set pieces. The backdrop of a cityscape is not overly fancy or showy and there’s plenty of open space for the multiple fight scenes that take place.

Nefarious! opens with a musical number introducing all of the characters. It’s hilarious and has the audience laughing out loud at the humor. Although it’s clear that this show is going to be cheesy and over the top, there’s talent on stage. The ensemble has a strong voice and, as I said, over the top characterizations. Not that that’s a bad thing here, as the characters need to be exaggerated in order for them to work, such as Mr. Bulleit (Matthew Gall), Dr. Watts (Andrew Bolduc), Anime (Kallie Noelle Rolison) and Yami (Justin Lance). These actors as well as the rest of the cast take their parts seriously but know how to play and have fun with them at the same time.

 While the singing of the ensemble was strong, solos are where things get a little shaky. Lilith’s (Aasia Bullock) solo “One Day at Time,” seems shaky at the start, causing her to sing off key at certain points. Bullock seems unsure initially but finds her legs to stand on by the end of her song. However, I wish she had come off more devious and villainous. For a character who’s supposed to be “nefarious” she could have taken it further playing up the evil villain archetype. Brendan Stallings proves to be more wicked as Kayne, Lilith’s right hand man.

The third of four songs, “Best Friends,” sung by Yami (Lance) and Anime (Rolison) has some awkward musical transitions and seems somewhat choppy. That said, Lance and Rolison are larger than life, keeping the audience laughing.

Gall as Mr. Bulleit completely plays up the narcissistic superhero persona, which makes his performance stand out. Even though his solo “How I Love to Love Me” has some pitchy moments, his character charisma helps make up for it.

Being a superhero comedy, there is, of course, a plethora of fight scenes. The fight choreography by Orion Couling and Zach Meyer is great. It’s evident that Couling worked hard in his direction to make the fights seem as realistic as possible and make them engaging for the audience. While the fight scenes captivated the audience’s attentions, voice over scenes, at least for this audience member, did not. I found my mind wandering during these scenes, just waiting for the action to return to the stage.

 Nefarious! is billed as a musical but with only four songs, it seemed slightly off balance. It could have used more musical numbers to truly feel like a musical. Besides that, the writing was pretty good dealing out funny jokes and one-liners. I also appreciated the plot twists that made the story more interesting and were not obvious on the surface.

 In the end the actors of Nefarious! proves able to hold the show together and keep the audience entertained with their high energy and comedic timing. 

Nefarious! plays at the Cornservatory, 4210 N. Lincoln, through March 26 Wednesday through Saturday at 8:00 pm. Tickets are &7 on Wednesdays, $10 on Thursdays and $15 on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets can be purchased by calling 312-409-6435.


2.5/4 stars