Murder mystery play tonight

The spring musical, the tradition of traditions at Notre Dame Regional High School, is being augmented for the first time this year with a fall production. Preparations for "Hello, Dolly!" will have to wait until Notre Dame's thespians dispense with a murder.

Director Cynthia King's choice to initiate the fall production is "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940," a takeoff on murder mysteries with jokes and a few modern twists tossed in. As the title says, it's a murder mystery and a comedy, but the musical is only part of the setup.

The play opens at 8 tonight. The final show will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday.

"The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940" begins familiarly. The creative team responsible for "Manhattan Holiday," a Broadway musical that flopped, is invited to a potential backer's mansion, ostensibly to explore the dubious possibility of collaborating again. The mansion, of course, is equipped with a bookcase that slides back to reveal one of the house's many secret passageways.

As the play opens the audience witnesses one murder, and as the phone lines go dead and a blizzard naturally snows everyone in, the bodies dragged outside begin to mount up. Our host Elsa (Maggie Devaney) worries what the mailman will think if the snow thaws.

Lights flicker and fail. People we've just gotten to know disappear.

Different villains

Two different villains could be at work here: a German saboteur on the loose or perhaps a mysterious figure dubbed the Stage Door Slasher. The slasher's handiwork on three chorus girls was the coup de grace for "Manhattan Holiday."

From the beginning, it's clear that not all persons in "Musical Comedy Murders" are who they say they are.

Conor Mullarney as Eddie the comedian and Teresa Minor as Nikki the dancer play off each other well as the love interests, the reluctant hero and the plucky ingenue. She tells him not to worry since the slasher only kills chorus girls. "How do I know he hasn't changed his preferences," Eddie says.

In response to the threat, he and lyricist Bernice (Amy Buehrle) find very different uses for a bottle of cognac.

Also well tuned into the play's snappy dialogue is Drew Willett, who plays Roger, a flamboyant composer. "I do not hate dancers," he demurs. "I only hate them when they sing."

A bronzed man named Ken (Scott Elsey) is a director who boasts of making numerous movies, none of which seem ever to have been released.

As the maid Helsa, Melissa Enderle pops up all over the set. Enderle has one of stagecraft's more difficult assignments -- affecting an accent.

Her scene with the Irish tenor O'Reilly (Mathew Long) is one of the most outrageous and funniest seen on the Notre Dame stage in a long time.

Ashtia Jewell as the producer named Marjorie and Steve Wissinger as the chauffeur complete this strong cast.

The assistant directors are Amy Bollinger and Pete Wissinger. The striking set was designed by Notre Dame graduate Matt Buttrey.

"Musical Comedy Murders" is silly and filled with laughs. Its timing is just right.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182