Originally produced at the 1985 New York Shakespeare Festival, the Roundabout Theater Company’s current revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Studio 54 offers audiences over two-and-a-half hours of free-wheeling, silly vitality. The novel by Dickens was never finished but as a musical, Droodis as colorful and crammed as a quaint Victorian English cottage.
Since Charles Dickens died before ending his novel, Rupert Holmes adapted the rest of the story it as a play-within-a-play with book, music and orchestrations. While Dickens’ murder of Edwin Drood might not be solved the way he’d have wished, Holmes injects ebullience and a rich complex score of songs. The stellar cast plays quirky melodramatic characters who tear up the stage with mega-thespian energy. Complications are pop-up obstacles of good humor and, as a plus, each audience gets the chance to decide whodunit, thus choosing one of several endings for each performance.
Directed by Scott Ellis, The Mystery of Edwin Drood’s ensemble of zesty music-hall entertainers portray the novel’s characters. Power-singer, Stephanie J. Block, with her lush voice and a sense of humor, plays Edwin "Ned" Drood, a famous male impersonator. Drood is engaged to the buxom nymph, Rosa Bud (Betsy Wolfe), whose nubile innocence manages to hint at a simmering sensuality.
Will Chase, with full-throttle hamminess, brings vitality to Edwin’s uncle, John Jasper, who, inconveniently, takes also a fancy to the young lady. Adding to the romance, or lack thereof, between Rosa Bud, Drood and Jasper, is the Reverend Mr. Crisparkle, who once loved Rosa Bud’s late mother. Mr. Crisparkle is deftly played by Gregg Edelman with a bizarre intrigue to his interpretation. Neville and Helena Landless (Andy Karl and Jessie Mueller), an exotic brother and sister from Ceylon, effervescent with physical poses and facial expressions, insinuate themselves into the romance, which now extends into mystery and possibly a crime.
Not to be neglected is the Princess Puffer (Chita Rivera), who runs an opium den with sexy confidence and delivers a song that has her signature all over it, “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead.”
After Drood’s disappearance (and presumed murder), secondary characters like gravedigger Durdles (Robert Creighton) and his son, Deputy (Nicholas Barasch) suddenly show up as possible suspects. Peter Benson plays an awkward Bazzard, who attracts attention with a breezy, “Never the Luck.”
A special salute goes to Jim Norton as the Chairman, a charming ringmaster who narrates the numerous entanglements and is played with affable sly impishness and an endearingly wink-wink way with a song and dance.
You probably realize by now that it’s quite impossible to connect the dots between these haphazard relationships. Following the plot is less interesting than the sudden unexpected jolts that keep twisting the action around. Barely into Act Two, the Dickens’ novel is over. Now audience input must decide who murdered (or not) Edwin Drood.
Rupert Holmes earned the first Tony and Drama Desk Awards in 1986 for Best Book and Best Score for this show. His music rings with Warren Carlyle’s high-spirits and witty choreography, especially when the company joins in some of the jaunty numbers like the Chairman’s “There You Are” and Jasper and Chairman’s patter duet, “Both Sides of the Coin.” Two of the few ballads are Rosa’s poignant, "Moonfall" and joining Jasper in, “Perfect Strangers.” Drood’s duet with Jasper, “Two Kinsmen,” richly colors their own relationship.
The musical moves at a tuneful pace with just a few overly-extended segments like Jasper’s “Vision/Smoke Ballet” in the opium-den scene.
Sets by Anna Louizos are striking, from a crimson-draped musical hall stage to a paneled Victorian sitting room. Brian Nason’s lighting adds a chilling atmosphere to the graveyard scene. Nineteenth-century entertainers’ costumes by William Ivey highlight the showgirls’ assets and the buoyant music direction flourishes in the excellent hands of Paul Gemignani.
This is not a murder mystery to waste time mulling over. Just sit back and enjoy the highly theatrical parade of frisky talented performers, music and fun.
