Lizzie: Axe murder and rock and roll are coming to SUNY Niagara

By Brandon Davis

On August 4^th, 1892, police entered the Borden home in Fall River, Massachusetts and witnessed the grisly aftermath of two murders that left Andrew and Abby Borden dead in their own home. The prime suspect was their daughter Lizzie. In April, these murders, as well as a not so fatal dose of rock and roll, are coming to SUNY Niagara’s stage.

SUNY Niagara’s theatre department will be putting on a production of the rock opera “Lizzie” which will run from April 23^rd to the 26^th with five showings in total.

“Lizzie” is based on the famous true crime story of the murders of Abby and Andrew Borden in 1892. Lizzie Borden, the daughter of Andrew and stepdaughter of Abby, had become the prime suspect of the case. Eventually, Lizzie was acquitted but the case, and many of its unsolved mysteries, continue to intrigue and baffle to this day.

Despite the source material coming from an 1892 murder case, “Lizzie” promises to be anything but stuffy and boring. Nicole Howard, who plays Lizzie’s sister Emma Borden, said this about the blood-soaked rock opera “It’s just going to be a really good time. Its like a rock opera so its like a giant rock concert on top of this story that a lot of people know, but told in a really different way. There’s going to be tons of blood and gore and it’ll be fun”

“Lizzie” has also been very enjoyable for the cast themselves. Vex Devonshire, who plays Lizzie Borden, expressed just how much fun it has been by telling me about some particularly exciting scenes from act one “Its very fun in the way of movement and its also very fun in the way of singing because we’re basically, besides me, shrieking at that point … I also love one of the first songs because, movement wise, I am pretty much getting thrown around and I think that’s fun”

The production itself has not been easy though. Nicole Howard said this about challenges the cast has faced so far “Some of the communication between groups sometimes gets lost. So, we don’t really know what is going on with our set at all. We know ideas, but nothing’s been actually done from what we can see, and the high school has been using our theatre right now so we can’t do any of the preparation stuff that we would have already done”

Vex Devonshire also provided an almost irresistible argument for why YOU should come see Lizzie in April “Do you like rock music? Do you like murder? Do you like lesbians? All three in that show … Also come see Josh, our music director, shredding out on guitar in the background.”

The show has a four-member cast who play the characters Lizzie Borden, Emma Borden, Bridget Sullivan, and Alice Russel. In addition to this, there is a six-piece rock band that should include a keyboard, cello, bass, drums, and two guitars.

The full schedule for the performances is April 23^rd at 7 pm, April 24^th at 12:30 pm, April 25^th at 7pm, and April 26^th at both 3 and 7pm.

Picture courtesy of the SUNY Niagara Theatre Department