46 | JANURY 16 • 2019 

N

athan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. and 
Richard Albert Loeb were bright yet 
troubled young Jewish men from 
prominent Chicago families. On a spring 
afternoon in 1924, they lured 14-year-old 
Bobby Franks into their rented car and beat 
him to death with a chisel. 
The seemingly motiveless crime captured 
headlines around the world, as did the trial, 
where renowned lawyer Clarence Darrow 
defended the alleged killers. Both men, who 
came to be known as the “thrill killers,
” were 
convicted and sentenced to life in prison as 
a result of Darrow’
s passionate arguments 
against the death penalty. 

While this gruesome tale may seem 
an unlikely subject for a musical, it’
s the 
basis of playwright and composer Stephen 
Dolginoff’
s Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb 
Story, playing at the Wharton Center for 
Performing Arts in East Lansing Feb. 12-16. 
The show is directed by Bert Goldstein, 
director of the Wharton Center Institute 
for Arts & Creativity at Michigan State 
University. He saw the musical at the 
Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017 and knew 
it would be an excellent fit for the Wharton 
Center’
s Illuminate series, which offers audi-
ences a fringe theater experience through 
smaller productions based on edgy and 
thought-provoking material. 
“Our goal is to create discussion and 
tackle subjects that may not always be com-
fortable,
” Goldstein said. “This story of two 
privileged young men with their entire lives 
mapped out for them and how they ‘
blew 
it’
 because of their toxic relationship still 
intrigues people. And Dolginoff did a great 
job capturing the psychology of their rela-
tionship.
”
First produced in New York in 2003, 
the two-actor show has been performed 
throughout the world and translated into 
12 languages. It has received several award 

nominations, including the Outer Critics 
Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical 
and Drama Desk Awards for Best Musical 
and Best Musical Score. 
Starring New York-based actors Mark 
Ryan Anderson and Wayne Shuker, the story 
is told in a series of flashbacks beginning at 
Leopold’
s 1958 parole hearing. According 
to Goldstein, the production has a film noir 
feel, capturing the mood of an early Alfred 
Hitchcock movie. The design of the entire 
play is in “black and white,
” including the 
sets, furniture, costumes and lighting. The 
only splotch of color is Loeb’
s blood-red tie.
“That’
s one of the things that makes it 
really interesting for me,
” said Goldstein, 
who has been a theater professional for 40 
years, working as an actor, director, produc-
er and arts educator. 
A piano player, seated on the stage, pro-
vides the musical accompaniment. In the 
opening number, “Why,
” Leopold tells his 
parole officer how he came to throw his life 
away despite his many advantages.
“The music is intriguing; it’
s fraught with 
tension, at times beautiful and haunting and 
mysterious,
” Goldstein said. 
Thrill Me is performed in the Wharton 
Center’
s Pasant Theatre, which seats 585 

people. For this production, the stage will be 
converted to an arena style, with audience 
members seated on three sides. A limited 
number of on-stage seats are available for 
those who want a more intimate viewing 
experience. 
“The intimacy is part of the thrill, to be 
close to the actors,
” Goldstein said. “If you’
re 
going on this thrill ride, being close will 
enhance the ride.
”
While the subject matter is grim, 
Goldstein says there is some “gallows 
humor” to lighten things up. The end of the 
musical features an ironically humorous 
twist, which Goldstein would not reveal. 
“It’
s a great show for fans of true crime or 
people who want to see a non-traditional 
musical,
” he said.
The crime has been the subject of numer-
ous articles, books and films, including 
Hitchcock’
s Rope and Meyer Levin’
s book 
Compulsion, which was also adapted into a 
film. Goldstein added an interesting piece 
of lore, explaining that the murder did not 
provoke the expected anti-Semitic response 
because Bobby Franks was Jewish.
“There was not a rise in anti-Semitism as 
there would have been if two Jews had killed 
a Christian,
” he said. 

Arts&Life

theater

A Disturbing ‘Thrill’

Fans of fringe theater will enjoy Thrill Me: The 
Leopold & Loeb Story.

RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER 

details 
Thrill Me is playing 
from Wed., Feb. 12 
through Sun., Feb. 
16 at the Pasant 
Theatre in the 
Wharton Center for 
Performing Arts, 
750 E. Shaw LN, 
East Lansing.
Ticket prices 
begin at $35, with 
group and student 
discounts available. 

Actors Mark Ryan Anderson and 
Wayne Shuker star in Thrill Me: The 
Leopold & Loeb Story.

COURTESY OF WHARTON CENTER 

