Reviewed by Tony Annicone
The Players last show of their 109th season is “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”, the musical mystery by Rupert Holmes based on Charles Dickens unfinished novel. It gives the audience a chance to solve the mystery because author Charles Dickens passed away before he could finish the novel. He suffered a fatal stroke on June 8, 1870 and died the next day after finishing Chapter 22 of the novel. The show opened on Broadway on December 2, 1985 and ran for 603 performances, winning 3 Tony Awards for Rupert Holmes. This musical will remind you of “My Fair Lady”, “Sweeney Todd” and “Phantom of the Opera” with its score. In Holmes version the audience decides the ending to the show, who killed Drood or is Drood really dead? “Drood” is a play within a play about an acting troupe from the Music Hall Royale. The darker side of the plot involves the “disappearance” of a young architect, Edwin Drood after a Christmas Eve night of festivities. He has been promised to Rosa Bud, a voice student of his obsessed uncle, John Jasper. The audience meets several unsavory characters during the proceedings. The energetic and talented cast under the direction of Joan Dillenback and musical direction of Joe Carvalho as well as the incredible and dynamic choreography of Michael Maio win appreciative and thunderous applause at the close of the show. You must also try to solve the whodunnit aspect of this musical with a clever twist.
Act 2 seems to flow much better as the audience becomes accustomed to the Music Hall aspect of the show. Leading this cast is Dennis Bouchard as the Chairman. His performance grabs you from the start to finish as he narrates each scene of the show, delivering a massive amount of dialogue while performing in many of them. Dennis’ voice rings out in the opening “There You Are”, the patter song called “Both Sides of the Coin” with John Jasper and the cast doing an energetic dance during it and “Off to the Races”, the closing dance number of Act 1 with Durdles, Deputy and the company. He reels the audience into the music hall type of show with gleeful abandon. Playing Edwin Drood and the actress who plays him is Erin Malcolm. While disguised as a man, she delivers many songs including a poignant ballad called “Perfect Strangers” and the confrontation song “No Good Can Come From Bad” which she does at the Christmas Eve party. Erin’s most impressive number is “The Writing On The Wall” where she makes a startling revelation to everyone.
Playing Drood’s lady love, Rosa Bud is Rebecca Kilcline. She is a pretty blonde with a glorious soprano voice in “Moonfall” and “In the Name of Love.” She does an excellent job as the sweet young ingenue whose deceased father and Drood’s deceased father promised to each other years ago. John Jasper who is Drood’s uncle, is a sinister, smarmy voice teacher played to the hilt by Jeff C. Davis. Jasper has designs on the lovely, Rosa Bud. He oozes charm trying to capture Rosa’s heart while he takes his opium mixed with wine at Princess Puffer’s Opium Den. Jeff’s voice is heard in many numbers including “A Man Could Go Quite Mad”, “The Name of Love” and “Moonfall.” His most impressive number is “Jasper’s Confession” where we find out he has two sides to his personality.
A Dickens novel contains many characters and this one is no different. Playing the Opium Den owner, Princess Patricia Puffer is Elizabeth Messier. She makes this sexy bosomed woman a hoot with her songs “The Wages of Sin” as she explains her life and “The Garden Path to Hell” where she explains what lead her to selling opium. Puffer was chosen to play the happy love scene to close the show with Durdles. (Each show is different with the audience picking the killer and the lovers.) The drunken cemetery keeper, Durdles is well played by J.P. Cottam while his son, Deputy is played by Sam O’Donnell. They sing “Off to the Races” which turns into a dynamite dance number. The town minister Crisparkle is played by Roger Lemelin who defends two foreigners Helena and Neville Landless played by Leslie Nevola and David Schillinger. They sing the lead in “A British Subject” while the others sing they aren’t even British. The biggest scene stealer in this show is Michael Maio as Bazzard, the unfortunate person who never gets picked to play a role in the show. His song is “Never the Luck” which is hilarious and leads him to be picked to play a role in the second act where he sings “Out on a Limerick” where he explains why he wants to find the killer. There are many twists and turns in the show that I can’t give away in this review. So for everyone who wants to see how Dickens could have ended his novel, be sure to catch “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” by the Players at Barker Playhouse. To become a member of this theatre club, be sure to give Bill Applegate a call.
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (11 to 20 May)
The Players, Barker Playhouse, 400 Benefit Street, Providence, RI
1(401)273-0590 or www.playersri.org
