Justin Huertas as Trevor (left), William A. Williams as Cary, and Kiki deLohr as the Siren in Huertas’s new indie-rock musical Lizard Boy at Theatre Row.
Justin Huertas’s Lizard Boy, a queer pop-rock indie musical with a sci-fi vibe, is funny, poignant, and life-affirming. Huertas, as the titular character, is a sweet and likable protagonist in this coming-of-age love story even though he suffers from having green, scaly skin. Cleverly directed by Brandon Ivie, and under the aegis of Prospect Theater Company, this show is a terrific homage to—and satire of—comic-book mythology.
Huertas and deLohr in one of the emotionally charged scenes in Lizard Boy, directed by Brandon Ivie, at Theatre Row.
Written and composed by Huertas, who also stars, Lizard Boy follows Trevor, whose skin condition is linked to a day 20 years earlier, when Mount St. Helens—the Washington State volcano 97 miles south of his Seattle neighborhood of Belltown—erupted and spat out a dragon along with its molten lava. As fate would have it, the 5-year-old Trevor was on the school playground during recess and got drenched with the dragon’s blood before the beast was ultimately killed. Growing green, scaly skin in the aftermath of this horrific encounter, Trevor withdrew from the world. Instead of making friends, he composes songs and draws pictures of superheroes in his sketchbook.
On the eve of Monster Fest, the annual city-wide celebration that commemorates the dragon’s killing, Trevor meets a cute guy called Cary (William A. Williams) and goes on a first date with him. Things get awkward when Cary flirts with Trevor, and downright unnerving when he later asks him to take off his lizard costume. But Trevor decides to tell his potential lover the truth: he’s a humanoid reptile. As Trevor waits for Cary to absorb this surreal fact (and perhaps disappear forever from his life), he dives into the song “Recess,” which revisits the moment he transformed into Lizard Boy:
Suddenly you realize that you’re covered
Head to toe in monster blood,
Her neck, his eyes, but all of you
Recess made your skin a different . . . hue.
Williams (left) as Cary strums a guitar, and Huertas as Trevor shreds a cello, in Lizard Boy.
It’s significant that Trevor’s reptilian condition is not physically represented on stage. Huertas’s Trevor has some dabs of sparkly green paint here and there on his skin, but otherwise he looks quite normal.
Inspired by the adventures of X-Men and Spider-Man, and the 2006 musical Spring Awakening, Lizard Boy is a lively caper—but you don’t have to be a comic-book nerd to enjoy it. Indeed, its book is a modern-day fable about transformation and hope. And it has a catchy score (it has already garnered more than 1 million streams on Spotify) with 15 songs embedded in its narrative. Although each number makes an impression, two truly stand out: the Overture, or “Trevor’s Song,” in which Trevor ruminates on his hermetic life, and “The Woah Song,” which points up how love makes a person vulnerable.
The crackerjack acting of the cast—Huertas, Williams, and Kiki deLohr—helps too. Huertas inhabits Trevor with much sincerity and a neurotic edge. Williams’s Cary is persuasive as a lonely guy in search of a meaningful relationship. DeLohr fittingly portrays the rock singer Siren as mysterious, ferocious, and mesmerizing—yet also sinister. But she also lets one see the sweep of this mythical story when she reveals to Trevor her presence at the playground 20 years ago when the dragon attacked him and four other children. “That Dragon almost killed you, the soldiers cut off its head, Dragon Blood spilt on all of us, and we each got a different Power,” she explains.
Williams plays Cary and deLohr is the Siren in Lizard Boy, a coming-of-age musical created by Huertas. Photographs by Billy Bustamante.
All three performers are accomplished and versatile musicians: the instruments used include guitar, ukulele, kazoo, melodica, glockenspiel, beatbox, and drum case. While the instruments make for a rich aural experience, they also transform into weapons in the final segment, in which those old comic-book exclamations—“Pow!”—“Kabam!”—“Thwop!”—gain fresh definition.
Suzu Sakal’s set, lit by Brian Tovar, evokes a dive-bar rock venue from the mid-’80s. It gives the performers plenty of space to move through and allows them to showcase their musicianship. Katherine Freer’s vibrant projections enhance the action and help to conjure up the various places and landscapes of the story.
A shout-out to Erik Andor for his Marvel-ous costumes, whose patterns obviously come right out of a Marvel comic book. Whether it’s Trevor’s cartoon-inspired boxer shorts or deLohr’s skin-tight red leotards and blood-splattered jacket, the outfits in this musical not only help to delineate each character’s personality but winkingly pay tribute to comic-book lore.
What makes Lizard Boy gratifying is its sincerity. This musical has heart and touches the heart. Although it asks the audience to take a big leap of the imagination to follow the twists and turns of its phantasmagorical plot, those who do won’t be disappointed.
Prospect Theater’s Lizard Boy runs through July 1 at Theatre Row (410 42nd. St.). Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; matinees are at 3 p.m. Saturday; there are Sunday performances at 3 p.m. June 18 and at 7:30 p.m. June 25. For tickets and information, visit lizardmusical.com.
Book, Lyrics & Music: Justin Huertas
Direction: Brandon Ivie
Scenic Design: Suzu Sakai
Costume Design: Erik Andor
Lighting Design: Brian Tovar
Sound Design: Kevin Heard
Projection Design: Katherine Freer
