‘Giulia’ Is a Poisonous Hit in the Spirit of ‘Sweeney Todd’

Several years back, a new musical called “Suffs” aspired to offer a sort of feminist spinoff on “Hamilton.” Created by and starring Shaina Taub as the suffragist Alice Paul, the show mirrored some of the musical and theatrical gestures Lin-Manuel Miranda had used to track the birth of a nation to chart the struggle for women’s voting rights; unfortunately, Ms. Taub’s earnest, often preachy work did so with all the imagination and grace of a political campaign ad.In contrast, “Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo,” now running downtown at Perelman Performing Arts Center — and hopefully headed to Broadway, the sooner the better — is just the kind of post-“Hamilton” show we need in these dire times for musical theater. Like Mr. Miranda and Ms. Taub, Jennifer Nettles, a singer/songwriter who rose to fame as half of the country music duo Sugarland, wrote the book, music, and lyrics for her piece and plays the leading role, that of Giulia Tofana, a woman who, as legend has it, strove to liberate her sisters long before Paul did, albeit by very different means.By varying accounts, Tofana, who lived in 17th century Sicily, made a poison invented by her mother available to local women who had been abused by their husbands, leaving hundreds of men dead as a result. Over two acts, under Mary Zimmerman’s equally playful and passionate direction, “Giulia” mines the theatrical potential of this story, using decidedly contemporary production numbers that incorporate hip-hop grooves and even rapping.But the musical that “Giulia” nods to most clearly in its plot and themes is one that predates “Hamilton” by decades: “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” and not just because the titles are structurally similar. Like Stephen Sondheim’s much more bloodthirsty protagonist, Giulia is driven to wrongdoing for righteous reasons, and while she doesn’t, at least initially, share Sweeney’s hunger for revenge, she is also surrounded by socially prominent figures whose corruption and sheer vileness fuel her mission.Where Sweeney had as nemeses a wretched judge and his sycophantic beadle, Giulia faces a higher-ranking church official, the Cardinale, and the even more sinister Governatore, who as played by a slick, preening Christopher M. Ramirez could be the evil twin of Mr. Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton. An excellent Quentin Earl Darrington gives the Cardinale a cool imperiousness while also revealing his raging misogyny in a couple of chilling numbers.Unlike some other plays and musicals that have emerged in recent years, however, “Giulia” doesn’t present all of its characters with Y chromosomes as villains or fools. When Father Paolo, a gentle, sympathetic priest played endearingly by Sam Simahk, tells Giulia, who has suffered abuse at her own husband’s hands, that “there are good men,” she responds, “Yes, there are. And they are none of my business.”Ms. Nettles brings an unfussy emotional authority to these lines, as she does to all aspects of her performance and the show it propels. That shouldn’t be terribly surprising. Of all popular music genres, country generally remains the one where singers must be able to really sing and songwriters have to really write; the genre’s strong narrative tradition has demanded that storytelling as well as melodic craftsmanship continue to play key roles.Giulia’s first solo is to some extent a classic “I Want” song, used early in musicals to establish a central character’s wishes and motives, except that there is as much regret as there is yearning in the words and music, so we know right away that our heroine is no ingénue and no stranger to suffering. While the score could use a little tightening, Ms. Nettles’s instincts remain superb, providing for songs that channel folk, country, and R&B textures with theatrical flair, and her lyrics are both witty and moving.Several numbers emphasize the growing camaraderie between various female characters as Giulia’s apothecary becomes a refuge and a war room, but Ms. Nettles’s vision of sisterhood doesn’t overlook how women can betray one another. In Act Two, a spoiled, seemingly frivolous duchess, given a giddy sense of entitlement by Didi Romero, is revealed as another potent antagonist.The relationship that ultimately moved me the most in “Giulia” is the one between the heroine and her daughter, Vitoria, a part acted and sung with exquisite tenderness and charming pluck by Naomi Serrano. Giulia’s love for Vitoria and determination to protect her figure heavily into her dark progress, growing fiercer as the girl becomes the subject of the Governatore’s lust, and the bond between mother and daughter is central to the show’s thrilling final scene.Ana Kuzmanić’s evocative period costumes and Daniel Ostling’s handsome scenic design lend additional atmosphere to the production, and I’m sure both could easily transfer, along with Ms. Zimmerman’s terrific cast, uptown. After enduring the bleak crop of so-called original musicals that marked Broadway’s last season, I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

‘Giulia’ Is a Poisonous Hit in the Spirit of ‘Sweeney Todd’

‘Giulia’ Is a Poisonous Hit in the Spirit of ‘Sweeney Todd’

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