Theater 29 opened “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” last Friday night, a musical based on an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. In a Victorian-era music hall, a troupe of actors breaks the proverbial “fourth wall,” and asks the audience to choose a murderer amongst the many suspects in the cast. Reporter Rebecca Havely attended the opening and offers this review…
At the opening of Theater 29’s “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” I booed; but only because I was encouraged by the cast. The performers greet you as you make your way into the performance, in character. as they break the proverbial “fourth wall.” The acting troupe includes you immediately as they prepare the Victorian-era music hall setting for their performance of a mystery musical based on an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. They instruct the audience to boo at the very mention of the name John Jasper, played villainously well by the young leading man, Scott Clinkscales. The lecherous choir director lusts after his star student, the ingénue Rosa Bud, played by the beautiful and talented soprano, Erin Keeran, who shines most in her rendition of “Moonfall.” Rosa Bud is betrothed to Jasper’s nephew Edwin Drood. He’s portrayed in this show-within-a-show, by actress Virginia Sulick in a “trouser role,” a concept of the British Music Hall era, similar to America’s vaudeville. Sulick masterfully executes the challenging, gender-bent role of Drood, whose murder is solved nightly. The chairman of the group is played with command and charisma by Leonard Weber, who charms us in a patter song duet with Clinkscales, “Both Sides of the Coin.” The murder suspects include: the Landless twins from the Orient played by the talented duo of Chris Fleischman and Katie Vansumeren; the disheveled, drunken, grave digger Durdles played by Dennis “Easy” Boos, and his comic side-kick Deputy, played by new-comer Cody Whitaker. Bazzard, the unsung understudy, is appealingly played by Andrew Whitaker. Cyrus Short sparkles as Reverend Crisparkle; he was my choice as murderer however, the majority of the audience chose Princess Puffer as the killer on opening night. The opium den madam, played by Char Childs, sings the stand-out number, “The Wages of Sin,” and invites the audience to sing along for the last stanza. The ensemble cast includes newcomers Marcus Motamedi, Allison McNally, and Carin-Rae Conner, and Theater 29 faves Jasmine Shaffer, Kylie Robinson and Amanda Winters. Award-winning veteran director Charles Harvey executes this extraordinary piece of musical theatre with a deft hand and obvious knowledge of the genre. Pamela Crane’s crisp choreography adds to the production value as does Kathryn Ferguson’s musical direction of the challenging score, and her unique, award-worthy Victoria costumes. If you enjoy a good who-done-it and getting involved with the on-stage action, this is a show to not only see but experience. You may desire going more than once to see all the answers to “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”.
“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” will run Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. at Theater 29 through June 27 with 2:30 p.m. Sunday matinees on June 7 and 21. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 seniors and military, and $8 for students with ID or children under 12. Purchase tickets on line at theatre29.org, or by calling the box office at 760-361-4151.
