Betrothed since childhood to Rosa Bud ( Betsy Wolfe), Edwin is planning their wedding and departure for Cairo, but his schizoid choirmaster uncle, John Jasper ( Will Chase), has other ideas for the lovely unplucked Rosa.Īlso on hand is the Reverend Crisparkle ( Gregg Edelman), who still smolders for Rosa’s dead mother and his exotic houseguests, the Ceylonese twins Neville and Helena Landless ( Andy Karl and Jessie Mueller), who may have their own devious agenda. Block), whose diva tantrum in Act II is the show’s comic high point. The ill-fated title character is played as a trousers role by “London’s leading male impersonator,” Miss Alice Nutting ( Stephanie J. Ad-libbing occasionally, he strikes the ideal jaunty tone to resuscitate this very British popular entertainment of a bygone era. With his hoary double entendres, Norton makes an effortless master of ceremonies, as at ease with the stage business as he is with the winking innuendo of lining up companionship for single gents in the audience. He also steps in as the ancient Mayor of the cathedral city Cloisterham when the company member scheduled to perform that role is detained at the bar. They double as characters within the evening’s presentation and the ensemble of second-rate resident players and guests hired to impersonate them, ranging from self-adoring stars to ambitious upstarts to shameless hams.Ĭhief among them is the wonderful Irish actor Jim Norton (a Tony winner for Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer) as the Royale’s Chairman, William Cartwright. And the cast appears to be having a ball. A genuinely intriguing mystery rather than a half-baked whodunit devoid of psychological complexity wouldn’t hurt either.ĭirector Scott Ellis, set designer Anna Louizos and costumer William Ivey Long all do fine work conjuring London’s Music Hall Royale in 1895, its gaudy painted flats encased in a gold proscenium that includes boxes for onlookers. A vehicle running 2½ hours needs more memorable songs than these mostly interchangeable parlor ditties, and more engaging characters than this bunch, which by design, are cardboard cutouts enlivened by melodramatic flourishes. Holmes’ show scores points for ingenuity, but it often feels like being stuck for too long in front of an olde-worlde department-store window display. The competition for chief honors that year was the Andrew Lloyd Webber concept piece Song & Dance, the subpar Bob Fosse assembly Big Deal, and the dance revue Tango Argentino, none of which muscled into the musical- theater pantheon. ![]() But with one or two notable exceptions, the mid-‘80s was a lackluster time for the original musical. It swept the top Tony Awards in its categories, winning for best musical, score, book, direction and lead actor. ![]() Transferred to Broadway after debuting outdoors as a Shakespeare in the Park production, the show’s title was officially simplified to Drood midway through its premiere run. 'Six' Hits Hollywood: Tony-Winning Writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss Remember the Early Days of the Musical Sensation
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