As
they used to say in the old English melodramas, "It's curtains for
you!" And well it should be, for running right now to the great delight of
audiences young and old is John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical whodunit, "Curtains" at Walnut Street Theatre. I
loved it on Broadway with David Hyde Pierce, Karen Ziemba and Debra Monk and why it didn't run longer
there is the real mystery here (though it garnered eight Tony Award nominations
with David Hyde Pierce winning for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a
Musical). This deliciously old fashioned style musical is written within an
inch of its life. The Book and Additional Lyrics by the amazing and ever
versatile Rupert Holmes just couldn't be any more clever and the whole production whirs like
a little Swiss cuckoo clock - silly and charming at every turn. (A footnote: Peter
Stone who
originated the idea for this musical died in April 2003, leaving the book
unfinished, and Holmes was hired to rewrite it. The talented Fred Ebb also
passed away before the musical was completed.)
Our
story starts in 1959 at the Colonial Theatre in Boston where the musical,
"Robbin' Hood of the Old West", is having a pre-Broadway try out
before working its way into New York. Unfortunately, the leading lady is god
awful and is dragging the show down. Somebody remedies this problem by killing
her during her curtain call on opening night. Enter Lt. Cioffi, a Boston
gumshoe and theater aficionado. Throughout the evening charming Detective Cioffi not
only solves the murder, but fixes the show, gets his girl and snags a part in
the show. I don't think I'm giving anything away here - because any audience
member can see all this coming a mile away -- after all it is a comedy. Of
course the big surprise is who actually committed the murder or should I say
murders! Now that
I will not divulge, you'll just have to see the show.
But
while all the clues are piling up you can listen to some wonderful songs like
the gorgeous I Miss the Music, the clever It's a Business , and the nostalgic Show
People. Even the
songs for the silly musical "Robbin' Hood" are melodic, funny and
highly entertaining.
Director/choreographer
Richard Stafford
has done double duty here. The ensemble dance numbers resemble flashy Las Vegas
extravaganzas, just right for this musical within a musical and the pacing of
this little gem is just great.
The
cast all around is extremely strong. I don't know whether David Hess has any Irish blood in him or
not, but if ever there was a man with a "sweet Irish tenor" voice
it's him. And it's an extra added treat to hear this man sing so beautifully
and make it appear so effortless. As Lt. Cioffi, our hero, Mr. Hess is
perfectly charming, a little wifty, but solidly reliable when it comes to
solving the crime. Though she's too young, too petite and too pretty to play
the role of the hard edged co-producer, Carmen Bernstein, Denise Whelan amazingly pulls it off. If this
woman doesn't get nominated for a Barrymore for her great character acting and
always exceptional singing, something is rotten in old Philadelphia and it's
not the cream cheese. David Elder, Mr. handsome, triple threat wows us again (as he did in
the leading role in "Windy City") as Bobby Pepper. We can only wish
that he had more stage time. Not since playing Frank Butler in the Prince Music
Theater's production of "Annie Get Your Gun" has Jeffrey Coon seemed so relaxed and
comfortable in a role onstage. As Aaron Fox, half of the divorced songwriting
team for "Robbin' Hood", Mr. Coon never overplays his part but rather
infuses it with a tender reality. And of course he gives a beautiful rendition
of “I Miss the Music”.
Laurent
Giroux is a
standout as the highly affected, self-absorbed, prima donna of a director,
Christopher Belling. Nothing is a throw away for this actor. He takes lines in
like ammunition and spits them out like red hot bullets. What fun! As Niki
Harris the ditzy ing_nue, Julie Reiber does just what she's supposed to do, be sweet and
lovely. As Georgia Hendricks, it's apparent that Nancy Lemenager is a dancer who sings - for her
dancing is par excellence, her acting is quite believable and when she sings in
her higher register she's lovely. But there are some numbers that are too low
in her register and that's when her pitch gets wonky. Perhaps a change in key
would have solved the problem? (This is not an easy fix for a Musical Director
who then must hire someone to redo the orchestrations for the song in question.
And it needs to happen sooner than later in the rehearsal period.)
Costumes
by Colleen Grady
are quite flam buoyant and fun, especially the rodeo outfits and the white
gowns and tuxedoes for the dream sequence in A Tough Act to Follow, another great song. The set
design by Robert Andrew Kovach is just to die for - the ultra realistic brick backstage
of an old theater complete with sandbags, catwalk and trap door.
Granted,
this is a theater lover's show. It takes place in a theater, all the characters
are actors or writers or producers and the Detective is a theater fan who stars
in Community theater. Yet its appeal is universal because we love all the
characters good and bad and in between and believe their motivations. Did I
forget to mention that it's really, really, really funny? That's just another
good reason to see what all the hubbub is about.