Marina Nebro: Arts and Culture

Who Killed Edwin?

Renowned actor Will Chase (front and center) as John Jasper, and actress Chita Rivera (far right) as The Princess Puffer.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is almost like a game of Clue – each performance has a different culprit and a different detective. The musical by Rupert Holmes is a fun-loving treat, but the light, airy, and joke-filled way he goes about telling the story of the mysterious disappearance of young Ned leads to a sort of plot let down. The only exposure I’ve had to the dark tale is through the Masterpiece Classic version starring Matthew Rhys as Jasper. Of course, because the audience members couldn’t vote in a film production, the writer, Gwyneth Hughes, created her own contrived ending to the mystery. The film took on a darker tone and feeling than did the musical.

Holmes sets the stage quite literally. In The Mystery of Edwin Drood, London’s Music Hall Royale puts on a performance of Dickens’ final and unfinished novel. The chairman of the theatre (Jim Norton) narrates the story, introducing the characters as they appear (as well as the “actors’” names). Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of clever narration techniques, but I felt that the constant interruption of story line to introduce fake actors detracted a bit from the more interesting plot that Dickens wrote. Of course, it was meant to be humorous, and it definitely was chuckle worthy. It seemed that the actors had a great time getting into character as an overly caricatured actors. For example, Andy Karl was hysterical as Mr. Victor Grinstead who portrayed Neville Landless – confusing enough? Not only was there a constant weaving between the worlds of the Music Hall Royale and that of Charles Dickens’, Rupert Holmes made the production of Drood humorous and almost a parody of the original – extreme gestures and body language made it very difficult for me to take Neville Landless seriously (although his “over-the-topness” was totally amusing).

1. Reverend Crisparkle (Gregg Edelman) 2. Princess Puffer (Chita Rivera) 3. Durdles (Robert Creighton) 4. Helena Landless (Jessie Mueller) 5. John Jasper (Will Chase) 6. Rosa Bud (Betsy Wolfe) 7. Bazzard (Peter Benson) 8. Neville Landless (Andy Karl)

There were some things, however, that I enjoyed a lot. The set was magnificent and even inspired me in terms of how I would work on my set design projects in class. I loved how detailed the scenic drops were and how dimensional they looked. The costumes were fantastically outrageous. I preferred the dresses worn by the ensemble as they were meant to be more toned down to allow the leads full attention, but they were gorgeous and I wish I could have one of my own! I also really enjoyed the voting at the end, even though none of my choices won – who is disguised as Dick Datchery (Bazzard – Peter Benson), who was Edwin’s killer (Rosa Bud – Betsy Wolfe), and who would be the couple in the end (we need a happy ending, don’t we?)? I think the funniest part of the entire show was the selection of the couple at the end – Helena Landless (Jessie Mueller) and Deputy (Nicholas Barasch). The reason for the comedy in this is that Deputy is a young boy, and Helena is a mysterious young woman from Ceylon who seems to be very wise and mature for her age. Nicholas Barasch was adorable in showing his excitement as Deputy. So adorable, in fact, I wish I was Helena myself!

Did I forget to mention that Edwin Drood was played by the so very talented actress, Stephanie J. Block?

The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Roundabout Theatre Company – Studio 64
November 24, 2012

Marina B. Nebro