Curtains (The Production Company) – theatre review

A whodunit-murder-musical – an unlikely combination I grant you – Curtains is the Australian premiere of a show written by Broadway legends John Kander and Fred Ebb (creators of Cabaret and Chicago).

A parody of backstage homicide mystery plots, Curtains – based upon the original book and concept by Peter Stone* – is set in Boston in 1959 at the opening night of the cowboy musical Robbin Hood of The Old West. The talentless leading lady is killed onstage during the curtain call and the whole cast are immediately suspects. A grand tribute to Broadway, it features a delightful assortment of colourful characters, including a very camp director, a bitter critic, clueless investors and ambitious actresses. It is up to a police detective, a theatrical wannabe, to save the show, solve the case and find true love.

Simon Gleeson, the star of Les Misérables and CHESS, returns to The Production Company as that multi-tasking cop and he is a huge success in the role. He brings the perfect blend of comedy, adoration and sleuthing to the part, winning no shortage of laughs from the audience. Alinta Chidzey is the object of his affections, while Lucy Maunder and Alex Rathgeber play Robbin Hood’s songwriting team, until Maunder gets the tap on the shoulder to take to the stage after the leading lady is bumped off. Melissa Langton is unforgettable as the hard-nosed, brassy Broadway producer, the long-suffering wife of her pompous husband, a part taken by John Wood. They are among a full cast of 27.

Much of the dialogue and storyline are downright hilarious. There are large dollops of slapstick humour and hi-jinks, most of which I appreciated, although I can’t say I warmed totally to mixing a murder mystery with a musical. I found it a rather strange blend, notwithstanding the efforts of Roger Hodgman as director and Dana Jolly as choreographer. Musical direction is from John Foreman, but as an unashamed fan of musical theatre I wasn’t totally sold on the musical numbers either.

Curtains runs for about two and a half hours excluding interval and is engaging to a point, although it does have some flatter patches. It had its world premiere in Los Angeles in July 2006, before opening on Broadway in March the following year to mixed reviews. The word “mixed” best sums up my feelings towards it too. It is definitely fun, but I wasn’t wholly enamoured by it.

Curtains is playing at the State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne until 28th August.

*Peter Stone died in April 2003, leaving the book unfinished and Rupert Holmes was hired to rewrite it. Fred Ebb also passed away before the musical was completed.

Alex First