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'Mystery' sends audience home happy
(by Herb Hammer - October 29, 2009)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
'Mystery' sends audience home happy
Charles Dickens died suddenly after he had finished half of his 12-part novel "Mystery." After several attempts by various writers over the years to complete the work had failed, Rupert Holmes, giving full credit to Mr. Dickens, did the job with enormous success.
Mr. Holmes has called his British Music Hall version, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," which won a Tony Award in 1985.
Any resemblance to Dickens, however, is accidental. The Great Lakes Theater Festival, under the impressive direction of Victoria Bussert, is presenting Mr. Holmes' show at the gorgeous Hanna Theatre on Playhouse Square.
Though "Drood" is a rousing good time, Miss Bussert has caused her own personal flaws that kill off some of the production. But more about that later.
Mr. Holmes has created two shows in one. First, there's the singing, dancing, laughing, 19th-century rag-tag Music Hall Players, where everything is played straight out at the audience. Aled Davies, as the master of ceremonies, is remarkable and the best the show has to offer.
And there is the story mixed in with all the craziness. Though the story must be told, the vaudeville acts which come one on top of the other create all the fun.
The plot centers on young Mr. Drood, played by Sara Bruner, who also plays Alice Nutting, a sly, young beauty. She's a whirlwind.
Edwin, as the story goes, is engaged to Rosa Bud. But the nasty John Jasper is in love with Rosa Bud. And so the slim plot moves piece by piece as the Music Hall Players continue their remarkable romp.
Eventually, the audience is asked to decide who killed Edwin Drood, for Edwin disappeared on a stormy Christmas night.
The plot moves forward, and, since Dickens didn't finish his novel, we are asked to do so. All this is just for fun. We vote for the character we see as the killer, and, if you win or lose, it matters little, since Edwin turns up at the end very much alive anyway.
Martin Cespedes' Music Hall choreography is just plain terrific, creating ear-to-ear grins from the Hanna audience.
The songs are surely not the kind you carry home with you, but, for shear comedy, they work quite well. The voices are mostly good enough for the silly show. Emily Leonard, as Rosa Bud, steals all the vocals. Her melodic voice is amazing.
Jeff Herrmann's set couldn't have been better with its traveling company appearance.
Where Miss Bussert has failed her audience is her insistence on the continuing use of overdone British accents. People around me were constantly asking, "What did he say?" "What did she say?" Clevelanders just don't have the ear for 19th-century British Music Hall accents.
For the most part, the show sends you home pretty happy, if not bewildered by the difficult-to-follow dialogue.
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