What I liked
The cast is very strong. Overall this is a good musical and worth your time. There’s moments the characters show a vulnerability that is easy to relate to and makes the insane actions of these girls more believable. The music really showcases the incredible vocal ability of the cast. I also did not expect to come away from a musical about the Manson Murders thinking the choreography was a strong point, but yeah, they had some fun mimicking old sixties dances and it works well.
What I didn't like
I’m really into true crime so it was a struggle for me to separate the actual events from the narrative of the musical. Because this is a difficult and weird story with several years of build up and many different perspectives, the script simplifies down some stuff or outright changes it. Initially I wanted to be really mad about it, but overall these were good decisions and I really can’t be mad that a musical isn’t historically accurate. That being said, I think there’s some tweaks that would push this piece from a solid musical to something truly great. The script really hits you with the catty in-fighting immediately. I feel the escalation of the actions of the girls would have a bigger dramatic impact if that was saved for a little later in the script. I would have loved if Linda’s first impression of the cult was purely positive. It would have helped justify her staying and wanting to go all-in believing in Charlie. Really it’s just that the script needs a little editing and rearranging. The writer has some impressive credits and it shows, so really it’s just nit-picky stuff. Which is half the fun of seeing a Fringe show in the first place is to pick it apart later, so in that regard….i guess this was a perfect experience.
My overall impression
A well performed snapshot of the women in the Manson cult. Fun songs and choreography paired with a plot that starts light and a little funny and quickly escalates to the dark moment when the decision is made to murder Sharon Tate. Tonally it is very similar to Sondheim’s Assasins.
