Review: “The Wrong Man” Enthralls Its Audience at Skylight Theatre

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The chilly air of Los Feliz Village unraveled the culture of music and theatre Sunday night, leading a group of people through a scene of artistic exploration they would not easily forget.

That’s what “The Wrong Man,” an underground musical directed by Lee Martino running until March 16th, did at Skylight Theatre.

Ross Golan, the man behind the music and lyrics of the production, performed some of his own work. Jennifer Brasuell brought a contemporary feel to the dancing in the production. Golan and Brasuell both come from extensive professional experience with the mainstream entertainment realm, and it definitely showed on the stage.

The theatre itself was standing next to the Skylight bookstore on Vermont behind a short alley-like walk way. The alley was garlanded with white lights and lined with some plants and trees that presented a convivial spirit as soon as you walked through.

Once inside, the theatre itself was quite cozy with a stage found on the ground floor and the seats rising in a wave up and away from the main stage. The stage was dark and the crowd was in chatter when they announced the beginning of the show.

The theatre went pitch black and out gleamed a man with his guitar as he began to serenade his audience with the first song of the evening, “The Wrong Man.” The beginning was the end as Duran (Golan) sang about being wrongfully accused of a crime he would not and could not ever commit.

The first song threw off my expectation; I was waiting for prisoners in stripes to come out singing and whirling their arms in the air in protest of life in the prison system. However, this one man and his guitar were perfect for this night.

Golan has a very eclectic set of vocal chords; they were singing romance and lust one minute and the next they were singing of sorrow and regret. His voice carries a lulled rasp to it that transformed the songs in this musical to something one might hear in mainstream pop cultured radio stations and such. Hearing this type of voice in head bobbing songs transformed the entire feel of the production.

In the story, Duran gets caught with a “cougar” in Reno and after a night of booze binging, he starts the following morning with a walk of shame that not only leads him home but carries a black cloud of unexpected rippling effects with him.

Golan performed 14 songs of lyrical aestheticism and they all had their own personalities, but like with people, we also have our favorites. His song “What Happens Here Stays Here” had a catchy feel to it, and I found myself singing along in the darkness of the theatre as Golan strummed every beat of that song into my head.

Golan’s tune was an anxious feeling of excitement inside a man whom wasn’t too sure of what was really about to happen in Reno.

“Take Off Your Clothes” and “Walk of Shame” were a great touch of lust and sex that brought a grown folk appeal to the story. Nobody can deny a beautiful woman and sex in a production. This time around the night stood classy with illusions of the act and not the exotic deed itself.

Paired with these songs is the dancing of Brasuell; she strutted up and down what seemed like every inch of the stage and covered the screens on the backdrop with photographs of her body in sexy poses and sensual color tones that revved the sex appeal in the theatre to maybe somewhere around 80 mph.

“The Wrong Man” is rapturous, fun and lyrically profound. The idea behind it is fabulous and its music is uniquely luring.

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