The Mystery of Edwin Drood

        I must confess that when it was announced that The Roundabout Theater Company would be producing the first revival of Rupert Holmes 1985 Best Musical Tony Award winner The Mystery of Edwin Drood I squealed with delight! The first time I had the pleasure of seeing Drood was a college production in the early 90's. Ever since I've been eagerly awaiting the time it would be ripe for revival.

       The Mystery of Edwin Drood is not a convention Broadway musical. Mr. Holmes (yes the Pina Colada song guy) has decided to use the format of an evening at an English Music hall as the basis for the play. When the audiences enter the theater, they are actually entering The Music Hall Royale in London in 1896. The opening number "There you are" is performed by the members of the company of the Music Hall Royale.

       Once the opening festivities have concluded, it is announced the tonight, the members of the company will be presenting for the first time, their new production of Dickens's last work The Mystery of Edwin Drood. As each character in Drood is presented, the chairman (emcee of the evening) introduces the character and gives the name of the company member playing that character. And so the "play within a play" construct is used to genius effect.

        As you may or may not know, but will know within the first 10 minutes of the production, Charles Dickens was in the middle of writing Drood when he committed the one unselfish act of his entire career - he died. He left behind not a single shred of a clue as to how the mystery should be concluded. As such, when that point in the story is reached - the members of the audience get to vote on the outcome. All in all it makes for a wonderful night at the theater.

      I have now had the pleasure of seeing this revival of  Drood twice. If I had time I would see it a third  time! The book, music, and lyrics  are absolutely delightful. This is a top rate production of one of the best modern musical comedies of all time. Scott Ellis has mined each moment for comedy gold, and Warren Carlyle has created some of his best work (second only to last seasons Follies imo). The set by Anna Louizos and costumes by William Ivey Long are complement each other and the space at studio 54 wonderfully.

       As the title character of Edwin Drood (Miss Alice Nutting) Stephanie J. Block is giving the best performance I've ever seen her give in a musical and deserves to be nominated for a Tony award for her performance. Why is Edwin Drood played my a woman, you ask? Back in the days of English Musical Hall, there were several women who made their names impersonating men on stage. In that tradition, we have the fictional character of Miss Alice Nutting who is famous for playing men, taking on the role of Edwin Drood.

      Every other member of the company is also equally adept at their double roles. Jim Norton shines as the chairman, Chita Rivera struts her stuff, and proves that she's still got it at 80. Will Chase and Gregg Edelman are appropriately hamming it up as John Jasper/Clive Paget and The Reverend Mr. Crisparkle/ Mr. Cedric Moncreiff, respectively.

        This production was not without controversy. The Mystery of Edwin Drood contains two characters, a brother and sister, who are from the British municipality of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In the tradition of The Music Hall Royale, these characters are played my members of the company (who are all white) with dark make up. I wouldn't call it black face, but they do look awfully tan. Many people have called out Roundabout for not casting two people of color in the roles. I can understand both points of the argument, and wont get into further in this post.

       I will say, for their part, that Jessie Mueller and Andy Karl are both giving fantastic performances in their roles. I would even venture to say that if the controversy can be overcome that Ms. Mueller will be looking at her second Tony nomination in as many years.

       There is only one off moment in the entire production, and that is dream or rather nightmare ballet sequence in the opium den of the princess puffer. It is awkwardly staged because three of the characters involved are not able to dance (or rather the actors portraying them). It is also mucked up by the use of set and props. This is the only (slight) off moment.

     Over all this has been the best musical production of the season so far and it deserves to be nominated for many, many, awards when it comes time for nominations to be announced. Unfortunately the production has not been a box office success, though it was given rave reviews by most critics including the New York Times. It was extended until March 10th, 2013, but was not given any further extension following that date.