FARMINGTON – The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 by John Bishop will be staged by the Mt. Blue Theater Company 7 p.m. on May 7, 8, 9 in the Bjorn Auditorium on the Mt. Blue Campus. The play isn’t a musical but is about a musical and features some original music by student Brendan Hickey.
The story takes place around 1940 in the estate of an eccentric, wealthy “angel” who will be backing the upcoming musical produced by the very same creative team whose last production ended with the murders of three show girls by the “Stage Door Slasher.”
As the show opens in the midst of a raging snowstorm, we see Elsa Von Grossenknueten (Emma Haywood) plotting with a somewhat bumbling detective (Josh Winters) to discover the truth about the murders. Staging an audition in her avant-garde home, she invites the very same director (Julian Thomson), producer (Desiree Sirois), composer (Brendan Hickey), and lyricist (Julia Lowell) as well some lesser known actors/singers/comedians (Greg Baxter, Gracie Libby, and Jacob Rutberg) to set a trap for the “Slasher.”
The killer does indeed strike again and again and again, and possibly again. But who is the killer? The director with a supercilious affinity for the theater? The young innocent chorus girl? The incredibly struggling comedian? Or the German maid (Drew Crockett) who seems to be everywhere at once? To find out, you’ll need to attend the show on May 7, 8, or 9!
This play is one of the more sophisticated shows the Mt. Blue Theater Company has produced in a while. It involves the use of prop weapons, stage fighting, and simulated murders, incorporating some mature themes and situations (rated PG 13), but the overall effect is a witty, irreverent, high-spirited romp, satirizing murder mysteries in the style of Clue. New York Magazine calls it, “the intelligent person’s kind of nonsense.” With Julianna Labul, Natalie Wood, Alex Haggan, Sam MacDonald, and Alan Sherrod as the student “techies,” MBTC’s production of this outrageous comedy is certain to “slay” you.
Tickets are $3 for students and $4.50 for adults.
