Review: ‘Felicity Rose and the Big D’ at B Street Theatre

For the more neurotic folks in the world, a first kiss is a monumental undertaking. How much lip pressure is too much? What if your breath smells like a poorly embalmed pharaoh?

A lot of thought can go into the orchestration of an acceptable first kiss—especially if you’re a middle schooler—and it’s this thought process that B Street intern Kate Crescenzo brought to the stage February 13 in her writing/solo-performing role as Felicity Rose in Felicity Rose & the Big D.

The one-person show, directed by Amy Kelly, was quick—about 15 minutes long—and delivered with finality. Following the lead-up to a kiss at a Valentine’s dance and taking place almost entirely in a bathroom, Crescenzo puts the show on her shoulders with overt subtlety and an angelic copy of Cosmopolitan magazine.

There’s a positively hilarious anticlimax when Crescenzo first opens the text for kissing advice, playing off of how unglamorous it really is to read an article about romance and lampooning the lip-touch. Hats off.

There are some moments of one-person awkwardness, including a Smeagol/Gollum style self-dialogue that could feel forced at times—but isn’t that what being in your teens is all about?

It was a one-night-only performance, presented at the end of House on Haunted Hill, but it was a good B Street introduction for Crescenzo and for Kelly’s directorial debut.