Off-B'way Review: Kenrex; Masquerade

Jack Holden in Kenrex.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

It’s hard to believe that Jack Holden is British since the solo star and co-writer of Kenrex, the one-man thriller at the Lortel Theater after an Olivier-winning run in London, so convincingly recreates an entire American Midwestern town in the midst of a crisis. Based on an actual case, this true-crime narrative focuses on the tiny municipality of Skidmore, Missouri where the title character bullied and dominated everyone around him until the law-abiding citizens could take no more. Kenneth Rex McElroy stole cattle, committed arson and rape, and even attempted murder, but got away with each of his numerous offenses thanks to a slick attorney. Feeling betrayed by the legal system, the Skidmoreans finally took the law into their own hands. Holden and co-author Ed Stambollouian, who also directs with imagination, tells this grim story through the eyes of a disillusioned prosecutor. It’s a chilling cautionary tale leaving this viewer severely shaken and unsure of what he would have done had he been there in Skidmore that day in 1981 when Kenrex met his fate.

Augmented by the symphonic, immersive sound design by Giles Thomas and John Patrick Elliott’s pulsating score combining rock and country idioms, the tale unfolds with hypnotic intensity, starting with the frantic 911 call by Kenrex’s hysterical teenage bride and then progressing through interviews with the prosecutor and the FBI to flashbacks of Kenrex’s decades-long reign of terror. 

Jack Holden in Kenrex.
Credit: Manuel Harlan

Holden brings over 30 roles to vivid life in a demanding tour de force performance.   Each character is an individual and far from a stereotype. Watch as Holden twists his body and gains several pounds to transform himself into the frightening titular town thug. As he describes Kenrex, you can see his face grimace in pain due to an industrial accident, his shoulders sag and his arms assume a constant fighting stance. He’s equally convincing as Kenrex’s crafty lawyer, the prissy minister, tough-as-nails bar owner Ida, and a host of others including a shy six-year-old and Kenrex’s bratty spouse. 

Stamboullouian’s staging, with the aide of Joshua Pharo’s evocative lighting and video design, recreates the entire town and the surrounding lonely countryside. The direction allows the story to fluidly progress through multiple locations and times, with the tension building to a shattering and inevitable conclusion. I’m not usually a fan of one-person pieces. They often strike me as vehicles for the star showing off their ability to mimic accents or to hold the stage by themselves, but this one goes beyond the usual theatrical self-indulgence to impart a disturbing and thought-provoking indictment of American justice.

A scene from Masquerade.
Credit: Matthew Murphy
and Evan Zimmerman

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera is another theatrical institute I’ve never really cottoned to. The beloved musical based on the classic horror novel and film was given a soupy and syrupy melodramatic treatment, a boldly theatrical staging by Harold Prince, and ran for a record shattering three decades on Broadway. But now, just as another Lloyd Webber property Cats has been given new life as a drag ball, Phantom rises reborn in the form of Masquerade, Diane Paulus’ ingenious immersive staging in an refitted former art store. Theatergoers in groups of 60 don masks and are ushered from room to room as six rotating casts enact the tale of the disfigured Phantom’s obsession with the angelic soprano Christine. 

Patrons follow uniformed “butlers” through the multi-level environment, plunging deeper into the Phantom’s world. We move up and down escalators, along winding corridors, into tiny dressing spaces, attics, carnival grounds, and into the underground river beneath the opera house. James Fluhr is the ingenious production designer. Emilio Sosa’s lush costumes and Ben Stanton’s spectral lighting are also praiseworthy. Our first encounter is with the superb violinist Nikita Yermak playing Lloyd Webber’s familiar “Music of the Night.” Unfortunately, most of the accompanying music is recorded, but the cast at the performance attended transcended the canned quality of the unscoring. Nkrumah Gatling was a shattered, sympathetic Phantom, Kaley Ann Voorhees a sweet yet steely Christine, Liz Pearce a commanding Madame Giry, and Satori Hofman a riotously funny Carlotta. Lloyd Webber is fortunate to have two of his shows reworked and revivified to such spectacular effect in the same season.

Kenrex: April 26—June 27. Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher St., NYC. Running time: two hours and 15 mins. including intermission. boxoffice.lortel.org.

Masquerade: Sept. 29, 2025—Sept. 6, 2026. 218 W. 57th St. (formerly Lee’s Art Shop), NYC. Running time: two hours with no intermission. telecharge.com.