Halloween weekend was the perfect occasion for some very eerie dramatics at the cozy 18th and Union venue. K. Brian Neel’s unique one man show, The Luring Well aptly answered the bell with a dark tale of murderous doings centered around a deep well in the year 1932. Upon entering, the audience was met with a soundtrack featuring some ominous thunder and rain and a stage set that would provide a jail cell for our somewhat demented narrator. Neel enters the stage in black and white striped prison garb and after a few moments of tuning his ukulele he gets right to the task of singing his “horror song cycle,” narrating the harrowing series of events that finally landed him in the clink.
The Ukulele Operetta involves two young boys discovering a bottomless well in the woods outside their small town and the demented joy they seem to have tossing a variety of animals and humans down to their deaths. Many of the songs are told from the point of view of the hapless victims. Neel’s fine tenor voice and rubbery, expressive face enliven what could be a really, really dark hour of theater. While Neel’s skills on the ukulele seem a bit limited, he is still able to perform a good variety of tunes ranging from light frothy ditties to heavy grunge like numbers. The show ends with an abrupt cut to silence and darkness that sent the audience back out into their Halloween weekend.