As I was watching the latest musical from Timpanogos Arts Foundation, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, I realized musical theatre loves itself a murder mystery. From Gentleman’s Guide, to Curtains, to Clue: the Musical and many more there’s a lot of murder mystery musicals. Within all of those entries one of the most entertaining entries is Edwin Drood mostly for how interactive it is. As they always do, Timp Arts has put on an impressive version of this mystery musical and they make it a great time for the whole family.
You might be surprised to hear me say family friendly with this musical but they do a good job taming things for a family audience here. There was even a moment where one of the actors reminds the other of the 2 children in the front row watching, which was very funny. Anyway, if you don’t know Edwin Drood is an interactive musical that allows the audience to help tell the story. This works because it is based on Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel so the murderer, detective, and lovers are left up to the audience to vote. The night I attended I could tell the winners of the audience votes were more unusual and that gave such fun energy to the proceedings. In fact, I Beck Mercury who plays Bazzard said it was his first time getting selected for the lover along with Krstysan Williams as Princess Puffer.
One of the challenges of Edwin Drood is its interactivity makes it a little jumbled and all-over-the-place when it comes to story. Luckily the cast at Timp Arts makes this work with their energy and charisma. There isn’t a weak link in the group with Wayne Keller III keeping everything together as The Chairman. Mark Gordon is hilarious as the villainous John Jasper and Lily Shepherd wears many hats (literally) as Edwin Drood.
I really enjoyed how director Andrew Jefferies made use of the entire large Valentine Theater including both of the side platforms and having the actors go out into the audience quite a bit (I love when shows do that!) The sets by Williams was also easy to move around and manipulate into different settings making the transitions quick. I also admire the lighting by Caleb Wallengren which gives everything a professional feel and keeps the atmosphere going even if the script is a bit of a mess. The costumes (particularly for Rosa Bud) are professional quality Victorian era clothes by Brooke Holahan (they always have such amazing costumes at Timp Arts.)
I don’t think the songs are super memorable in this musical. It could be just as fun without the songs but Taylor Ann Jaeger probably has the most beautiful voice of the cast as Rosa Bud. Her rendition of “Moonfall” is gorgeous. Mercury is a hoot with “Never the Luck” and Williams camps it up with Princess Puffer’s saloon-like songs “The Wages of Sin” and “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead” and more. This musical gets a real jolt of energy in Act II when it starts to become interactive. If you aren’t feeling it to that point keep with it because it certainly left me with a smile by the end.
The sound at the Valentine theater can be a bit of a challenge, and I recommend sitting further back if you can. Also there are times the actors seemed to struggle to be in sync with the backtrack (especially the very fast songs) but other than that this is a great production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. If I had time I’d see it again just to see what it would be like with different results. It is playing through October 24th and tickets can be purchased here. (Also anyone thinking of doing Gentleman’s Guide do Edwin Drood instead! I like it so much better)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood features music, book and lyrics by Rupert Holmes. It is based on the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens and first appeared on Broadway in 1985 and then in the West End in 1987. It had a revival in both locations in 2012. It won 3 Tony Awards including Best Musical.
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