BOYS DON’T CRY by Mateo Lewis (Basement Productions). At the Robert Gill Theatre. July 6 at 4:30 pm, July 8 at 2:30 pm, July 10 at 9:30 pm, July 12 at 1 pm, July 13 at 5:45 pm, July 14 at 8 pm. See listing. Rating: NN
Not to be confused with the Hilary Swank movie, Boys Don’t Cry explores singer/songwriter Mateo Lewis’s complications with gender in a semi-autobiographical musical. Lewis also stars as Jayden, a teenager whose new girlfriend gives him confidence to be his true self: a sensitive poet and not the jock his family expects.
Aveleigh Keller as girlfriend Rosanne is clearly the strongest member of the young cast. She’s convincing as a precocious high school student, and her controlled several-octave range makes her the strongest singer. The most memorable number is a bouncy duet between Keller and Lewis about mixed messages however, most of the songs present unnecessarily challenging melodies.
The cast makes the most of director Christopher Wilson’s minimal set, but the park-and-bark blocking to deliver every line and song gets tiring – fast. Boys Don’t Cry contains an important message about gender expectations, but it unfortunately gets lost.
