From the start, "Caligula" feels like a winner. With its catchy glam-rock-inspired score and solid book (by Eric Svejcar), plus a strong cast headed by "Taboo" Tony-nominee Euan Morton, the well-paced (Michael Unger directed) show, a finalist for the 2003 Richard Rodgers Awards, has hardly a weak moment.
The narrative unfolds absorbingly. It's 16 A.D., and the paranoid Emperor Tiberius arranges for his nephew to be killed, fearing a plot, then takes in the nephew's young son, Caligula, who eventually strangles him, and becomes emperor himself.
Unwholesomely attached to his sister Drusilla -- there's even a nude bedroom scene -- Caligula becomes unhinged after she dies of a fever, and turns into a depraved and murderous autocrat.
Though the score was influenced by '70s rock acts, "Caligula" is constructed very like the early Lloyd Webber-Rice pop operas, though with dialogue. There's even a narrator providing (musical) commentary. Whatever their inspiration, Svejcar's songs are unfailingly good.
Morton conveyed the effete Caligula's petulance, cruelty, and vulnerability while singing powerfully. Denise Summerford, Brooke Sunny Moriber, and Gilles Chiasson registered in a first-rate cast. David Andrews Rogers' band provided exciting accompaniment.
With some fine-tuning, "Caligula" should soon be ready for the big time.