Lizzie The Musical

Lizzie Borden took an axe

and gave her mother forty whacks.

When she saw what she had done,

she gave her father forty-one.

The infamous case of Lizzie Borden, who was tried and acquitted of the murder of her father and stepmother in 1893, is one that continues to intrigue. Whilst she was acquitted, no other killer was tried for the murders, and she was shunned for the rest of her life in the Massachusetts town of Fall River. An obvious topic for a musical!

 Nicola was on ushering duty at Circa Theatre, and with a 6:30 showtime we needed to get an early dinner. Once again, Mr. Go’s is the go-to place (do you see what I did there?) and they are also participating in Burger Wellington, so I had their Fromage & Fortune burger.

The show started slightly late as they had a technical hitch with the lighting, so 10 minutes after the advertised start we were ready to go. Lizzie is a rock opera musical, with four characters who are the (surviving) female characters in or adjacent to the Borden household. They’re supported by a five-piece band – drums, guitar, bass, keyboard and obligatory cello. They start by reciting the verse above, then each of the characters introduces herself. The show progresses – mostly musically, but with some spoken parts – as they describe the living conditions in the Borden household, with their father and stepmother. Andrew Borden was a noted miser, and, after remarrying following the death of his first wife, tensions arose in the family. Lizzie and her older sister still lived in the family home, and there are indications of abuse, possible incest, in one of the songs. The first half leads up to the bloody axe murder of Andrew and Mrs. Borden.

The second half focuses on the reactions of all the characters to the murders. It seems clear that Lizzie did do the murdering, but that the evidence is not necessarily pointing at her, particularly after the dress she was wearing is burnt. There’s a memorable song which must have been a delight to perform, called “What The Fuck Now, Lizzie?” sung by her sister. The trial follows, and possibly the only mis-step of the entire production: the band leader, keyboardist Hayden Taylor, has one line, and he fluffed it! He’s supposed to call out “Not Guilty!” as the verdict at the end of the trial, but came in too early, not waiting for the band’s music to completely fade. So what we heard was “<muffled> Guilty!” Bugger.

Anyway, true to life, Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murders, and the whole thing finishes with a flourish. They did an encore number of the forty whacks routine whilst taking their bows, to riotous applause.