Immortal lead characters, purple branding and ex-boyfriend drama? Yet somehow, one of New York City’s newest vampire love stories bears the most resemblance to a show about a boy working on a song. Blood/Love is full of surprises for all your senses, starting well before the first notes.
From the moment you enter the lobby of Theatre 555, an intimate off-Broadway venue on 42nd Street near 11th, you’re transported to the underworld, specifically a dark club named The Crimson. From the bar, you can pick up a mocktail in a blood bag or take a mirror selfie in an oversized mirror with an “I’m in Hell” decal before picking up a Playbill and a complimentary libretto while entering the red-lit, haze-filled theatre.
The show opens with a musical number that walks through how Valerie, the heroine and world’s first vampire, left hell to join the mortal world and found her two closest friends, Demetrius and Cleo. As Valerie approaches her birthday and struggles to find fulfillment in her life, she visits the Crimson with her friends for a celebratory night out. There she meets Anzick, a mortal musician with a dark secret connected to her previous life. As Valerie sets out to help Anzick, she struggles with her friends, who feel she needs to keep her distance, and eventually finds herself back in the underworld.
Despite glaring aesthetic similarities to productions like Death Becomes Her, the show is best suited for fans of Hadestown. Three ominous figures, known as “The Advocates,” occupy a role similar to that of The Fates. Valerie is a Persephone type, vying to step away from her love with the devil to find fulfillment, joy and light in the world above. She attempts to protect Anzick from the wrath of her former lover once she learns that he’s become a victim. Ultimately, Valerie returns to the Underworld to fulfill her obligation in restoring the natural order.
A core plot point mirrors another famous work about the king of the Underworld, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” Valerie is a prolific violinist whose talents catch the Devil’s attention. She stepped away from the instrument for the first time in nearly a millennium in the human world. Still, she began playing again to the chagrin of Demetrius, a clear foreshadowing of the events about to unfold.
Beyond the story, the production is a visual delight; the lighting design by Japhy Weideman, video design by 59 Studio, and special effects by Skylar Fox and Daniel Weissglass are effortlessly ultra-modern, adapting the thrill of concert visuals for a Broadway-style show. While the set design by Jason Ardizzone-West was perfectly suited for the intimate space, I’d be excited to see how the visual suite could be scaled up for much larger spaces and productions.
While a feast for the eyes, the show felt a little light on substance. Some moments were difficult to hear and understand, and select plot points moved too fast. The Devil manifests in the human world as Mr. Sunshine, a character with almost blink-and-miss-it significance. The friendship dynamic among Valerie, Demetrius and Cleo plays a major role in how the plot unfolds, and I would’ve loved to see more development of the tension among the three. The friends I attended the show with struggled to understand Valerie’s connection to Anzick, as their relationship was slightly rushed. Understandably, nuance can be glossed over in an 80-minute show; however, I could see some tweaks to the plot to address the handful of slower moments.
The choreography by Natalie Malotke, Oksana Platero and Jonathan Platero more than fills in the gaps of the plot, with skilled technique executed alongside impressive stunts by a remarkable ensemble of dancers. A personal favorite was the duet between the doubles of Valerie and the Devil, which beautifully balanced a sentimental story of a troubled relationship with tricks rivaling highlights from shows like “Dancing with the Stars,” reflective of the choreographers’ background on the long-running competition series.
Whether you’ve got a penchant for musicals with dark themes or you’re looking for a visual masterpiece, this new show is a pure spectacle that is sure to make for a fun night out with friends. Regardless of what you’re making the trip to hell for, Blood/Love is an off-Broadway musical that certainly has some bite.
