After seeing the opening night of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Culbreth Theater, I cannot help but think that all Charles Dickens' novels should be turned into musicals.
Of course, there are other Dickens' stories that have been converted into musical performances -- Oliver and A Christmas Carol -- but Drood brings something entirely new to the table. The show encourages audience members to make important decisions about upcoming events in the play through active audience participation. The novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, is unfinished. Dickens died in the middle of writing a sentence, so no one knows how he intended to end the story.
So, the cast lets the audience decide the ending. The audience votes on which cast member murdered Edwin, which cast member is posing as the mysterious detective investigating Edwin's disappearance, even which cast members will fall in love at the end. Basically, Drood turns into a theatrical version of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books or Clue.
This decision-making could be a daunting task for the audience were it not for the many clues blatantly and humorously pointed out by the cast. In one scene, an important line is completely re-enacted word-for-word and action-by-action so audience members are sure not to miss what has been said. This creates a close audience-cast relationship that is absent from many plays that do not break the "fourth wall."
Even before the play begins, the cast members are out in the audience, introducing themselves, explaining the voting process and giving the production an authentic Victorian playhouse feel. During the show, cast members insult and poke fun at the audience between scenes. Princess Puffer, the opium-queen character who "inhales more than she tells," jokes that she had a relationship with a male audience member and insults him in front of his "date." She then confronts the pit orchestra, asking if they are paid "by the note."
Jane Mayer attracted attention as Princess Puffer due to her snappy demeanor and her outrageously colorful Victorian dress, complete with huge ballooning sleeves. Despite her larger-than-life character, Mayer fulfilled the role perfectly without overshadowing the rest of the cast.
Winston Noel as William Cartwright also stood out. Noel guided the audience participation enthusiastically and seamlessly led the action of the play while also being entertaining himself -- no small task for a narrator.
What makes Drood really effective, however, is the phenomenal acting by the entire cast, all of whom work together as an ensemble to bring Rupert Holmes' Tony Award-winning musical to life for the University community. They sing numbers like "Both Sides of the Coin" and "Off to the Races" with high energy and choreographed precision. Even their body and hand movements on each of the words of the title, whenis mentioned, are exactly on cue as the lights flash in sync around them. This cast seems capable of handling anything.
The production also includes wonderfully constructed, well-suited Victorian style costumes and realistic sets and props. A surprising addition to the sets was the introduction of an enormous black steam engine rolling through large plumes of fog across the stage and toward the audience in Act Two.
The play within a play structure allows the cast of Drood to go back and forth between realistic acting when they are in the realm of the audience, and hilarious melodrama when they are engaged in the mystery plot onstage. They also prove that they are a cast capable of performing all of the potential outcomes that could result from the three rounds of audience voting.
The cast brings to life a thrilling musical that guarantees even the audience member who does not like reading Dickens will appreciate The Mystery of Edwin Drood on stage. This show is a must-see.
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