'MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS
'Whodunit' plot keeps you on edge at Old Town Playhouse
by Nancy Stundstrom

 It isn't a musical comedy, but there are plenty of murders, laughs and surprises in John Bishop's "Musical Comedy Murders of 1940," a lighthearted romp that aspires to be a hybrid of the Agatha Christie classic, "The Mousetrap," and Michael Frayns's "Noises Off."  This 1987 play enjoyed a brief run on Broadway before becoming a popular choice of community theaters everywhere.

In Traverse City, "Musical Comedy Murders" opened last weekend at Old Town Playhouse.

Frequent performer Ed Mulcahy is making his mainstage directional debut in the show after receiving some solid on-the-job training as assistant director of "Lend Me a Tenor" and "Escanaba in da Moonlight," two of OTP's best and most successful comedies of recent years.  While "Musical Comedy Murders" doesn't have "Tenor's" ingenious plot twists or "Escanaba's" goofy charm, Mulcahy and his able cast make the most of the material, delivering energetic, enjoyable mayhem.

The plot, such as it is, is a send-up of both the egocentric world of the theater and the corny "whodunit" thrillers of the era in which the play takes place.  Set in the library of an elegant mansion in Chappaqua, New York at midnight during a blizzard-ridden December in 1940, the plot finds the cast of 11 gathered under the premise of auditioning a new show for a potential theater investor, or "angel."

The same creative team behind this fledgling show were responsible for a previous musical where three chorus girls were killed by the tabloid-named "Stage Door Slasher."  The assailant was never found, but three years later, new evidence has prompted the police to re-open the case, using the director, producer, composer and lyricist of the new venture, as well as a well-known patron of the arts, as bait to lure the slasher from hiding.

Of course, no one is quite who they seem as the convoluted plot twists pile up as fast as the bodies.  The first murder takes place at the hands of a masked figure in the show's opening moments, and from there on, everyone is fair game for the "Slasher."  Nothing and no one can be trusted, not even the hors d'oeuvres.

Director Mulcahy keeps his actors on top of the action.  As an ensemble, their lightening-quick timing propels the show forward and leaves little time for the audience to dwell on how nonsensical some of the contrivances are.  These are rich comedic roles for the performers, as nearly everyone has a different identity from who they initially appear to be.

In terms of the plot structure and on stage, standout performances are given by Justin Harris as Eddie, a struggling comedian, and Elizabeth Stewart as Nikki, the aspiring actress with whom he's in love.  Harris and Steward bring a natural ease and believability to their roles, which provides much-needed counterbalance to some of the other characters, whose parts are written to be over-the-top caricatures.  That is the writer's doing, and one cannot fault the actors for portraying roles that have been crafted that way, but in contrast, it heightens the effectiveness of the work Harris and Stewart do.

Joe Kilpatrick steals a few scenes as the hapless, hopeless composer Roger Hopewell.  He walks the tightrope between character and caricature quite nicely, elevating the quality of some of the more questionable lines his character has been given with a flamboyance that he still manages to keep in check.

The same goes for Rick Korndofer as director Ken De La Maize, who is adept at making his character both more and less than what he would seem to be.

Bonnie Deigh is delightful as the lyricist determined that her project will see the light of day even as the body count is rising.  Jill Anton sparkles as the potential producer of the new show, earning a lot of laughts as she gives an affected twist to words such as "divoon" (divine) and "martoony" (martini).

Not much can really be said about Bernadette Goppuso's portrayal as Helsa, the German maid, without giving key plot points away.  But she is versatile and unpredictable throughout, ably carrying the freight of the show at times.

The rest of this fine cast is rounded out by Tony Lezon, Barbara Goodearl, Don Kuehlhorn and Al Lien.

"Musical Comedy Murders of 1940" runs Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. through May 20, with a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. on May 14.

Journals:
May 22 06
'nother show done , wrapped and almost forgotten. Just need to finish this journal entry to move on to the next adventure. This show brought together the newbies and the oldies. And taught us all that theater is a constant education. I, for one , learned some things from our stage manager that i didn't know  and didn't like...(it was a good method just not my method) yet i adapted and the show worked well with her work. During the rehearsal the actors learned to work with the director and vice versa. It takes a trust between actors and actors and actors and director to make a show work. We look to the director to tell us when something we do works and we look to our fellow actors to give us the line and timing to make the show work. For the most part we foudn the trust and we had a successful run. The next time we all work together wew illknow a little more about each other. The process, hopefully, will be smoother. WE say good-bye to Karla Fishburn our Stage Manager. She and her family are off to the Queen City for education and a life. We hope she can find theater down there to keep her sanity. She will be missed.

Don Kuehlhorn, May 10 06
It occurred to me yesterday that i didn't write a journal for "Rocky..." in which i worked backstage and i haven't written one for this show in which i work onstage. I, hereby, correct the ommission.
We have a Director making his debut on Mainstage and a  Stage Manager making her Debut as well. We are learning a lot from both.
The struggle of mainstge directing is the larger scope of the work. When one works in the Studio the scripts are, generally, smaller as are the casts and stage decoration. Mainstage asks for more of everything.
Our set consists of  a unit set, one step, 8 feet tall, 20 feet wide, 10 feet deep. We have 38 light cues(i believe at last count), about 10 sound cues, though  making them work in the show is more demanding then it sounds(no pun intended) and costumes for all 12 stage actors. The studio wouldn't (shouldn't)be this complex.
All in all, our newbies carried off this play successfully. The education for the Director of  the larger scope worked well. We are up and running without major complications. Our Stage Manager has learned the ways of the Old Town Playhouse and taught us new methods from her knowledge base. We actors , as all actors do, have learned to work through all the problems Directors and Stage Managers create for us to do our creative thing and have made them look good...again!
We have a successful play thanks to all the newbies, oldbies and the rest in between.