THE TOOTH OF CRIME
Sterling Theatre has expended a lot of energy exploring this script and has delivered a production that is not only remarkably lucid but also deeply felt. The Tooth of Crime is something of a two-hour extended metaphor, in which the rock-and-roll industry is likened to organized crime, where superstars and aspiring talents use strategic kills to achieve or maintain success. The play follows the pathetically paranoid fading star Hoss (Rick Reardon), holed up on his leather and leopard-skin throne as he awaits the impending attack of Crow (James Schneider), a hot young performer whose thirst for stardom is unquenchable. Hoss desperately tries to gain confidence from his “entourage”: Becky Lou (Jane Baxter Miller), his detached but savvy girlfriend; Starman (Duane Sharp), a wigged-out astrological adviser; Galactic Jack (Frank Nall), a slick disc jockey; Doc (Michele Filpi), his drug supplier; and Cheyenne (Will Casey), his no-nonsense chauffeur. With the exception of Cheyenne, all of Hoss’s cronies act like toadies.
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Perhaps the biggest weakness of this production is the rock-and-roll world that these characters inhabit. Most of these characters seem awfully clean-cut, clearheaded, and energetic. Only Miller’s Becky Lou captures that wonderfully anesthetized Dead-head quality Shepard seems to delight in.
