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H.H. Holmes has been dead for more than 125 years, but he’s still good for white-knuckle moments at the theater.
“White City Murder,” for instance, is a musical based on a string of murders committed by Holmes during the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. The man described as the first-known serial killer in the United States is enough to amp up anxiety among audience members.
But the presentation of “White City Murder” is a thrill ride on its own. Written by Indianapolis actor-director Ben Asaykwee, the musical features Asaykwee and one cast mate, Claire Wilcher, portraying more than 30 characters while singing along to audio loop machines—known for being untamed beasts of modern technology.
It’s a chaotic experience, Wilcher said. “It’s like we get on a rollercoaster at the top of the hill,” she said. “That first number starts and our whole mental state is, ‘Here we go. There’s no stopping it.’”
Unstoppable is a way to describe modern society’s interest in true crime, Asaykwee said. He saw it in 2016, when “White City Murder” debuted at Irvington Lodge. Three years later, Asaykwee revived the show at the Phoenix with Amanda Hummer as his cast mate.
Beginning July 19, the Phoenix will present Asaykwee and Wilcher in a staging of “White City Murder” scheduled as part of the theater’s 40th anniversary season.
Asaykwee mentions “Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” a 2022 hit at Netflix, as a sign that people continued to be fascinated by grisly history. Personally, Asaykwee said he can’t stop watching a streaming channel that airs episodes of “Dateline NBC” around the clock.
“It’s caused me to fall into a little bit of a rabbit hole of research to see how many millions are spent on true crime, from podcasts to television,” Asaykwee said. “People are incredibly fascinated with crime in all of its forms, but specifically gruesome crime and murder. It seems like we’re really on board with hearing all about it.”
Known for his popular “Cabaret Poe” presentations that explore classic macabre, Asaykwee said “White City Murder” isn’t intended to glorify a serial killer.
“It’s told from the perspective of the fair participants,” he said. “It’s told in this showy, big way. There are maybe a couple of moments that are chilling, but it’s not what we think of as a serial-killer, scary type of tale.”
Asaykwee lived in Chicago when he first learned about Holmes, and he said that knowledge was independent of 2003 book “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. In recent years, actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Keanu Reeves were attached to separate attempts to bring adaptations of “The Devil in the White City” to movie or TV screens, but those efforts fizzled.
It’s not as if the story isn’t compelling, Asaykwee said.
“Henry Howard Holmes was a weird dude and he had a weird life,” Asaykwee said. “He also had interactions with truly fascinating characters. I tried to equally focus on those people in writing the script so they were given the justice they deserved.”
Holmes spent time in Indianapolis after he left Chicago. He married Franklin native Georgiana Yoke and he killed a 10-year-old boy in Irvington.
“White City Murder” will be presented in the round at the Phoenix, where Asaykwee said attendees should expect opportunities to laugh and/or cry.
“You see everyday people affected by this monster of a person,” he said. “That in itself does what I think theater is supposed to do, which is to give you a look into someone else’s life and develop empathy for that situation.”
“White City Murder”
- When: July 19 to Aug. 4, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.
- Where: Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St.
- Tickets: $30
- Info: Visit phoenixtheatre.org.
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