Thrill Me

In 1924, two bright and privileged young men, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, killed a boy because they believed they could get away with it. As Loeb, actor William Giammona is riveting in songs such as "Roadster," where he lures their young prey into the car with simple temptations like "I'll let you honk the horn." Creator Stephen Dolginoff wastes no time in this 80-minute piece, deftly using sweeping melodies and pointed lines like "If we killed my brother John, he'd never touch my things" to pull us into the power struggle between these two young men. The love story between Leopold and Loeb doesn't quite come off — mainly because expediency requires Leopold (a sweet and needy Ricardo Rust) tell us directly how he feels about his partner in crime rather than us discovering it in the fullness of time. But once we get to the murder plotting, and the twist Dolginoff throws in at the end about who really is the superior of these two, both the story and the songs carry you along.