If you’re looking for a good murder mystery to solve, you’re in for a treat. Curtains! is a musical comedy that will keep its audience on the edge of their seats with its humorous plot, catchy tunes, and entertaining dance sequences. Taking place in Boston during the 1950s, a murder occurs on opening night at the Colonial Theater, when the unwieldy leading lady of the show, Jessica Cranshaw (Ainsley Sullivan), falls dead to the ground. Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (Justin Miller), a bubbly police officer who’s a fan of musicals, steps in to investigate the murder. From the jealous cast to the moody producers, everyone is a suspect in his eyes. It’s a classic tale of “whodunnit?”
When I asked Carly Evans (director), why she chose the show, she said, “I love the ensemble and the nature of the cast. There are so many moments for the different characters, so many moments for the ensemble, I love the style of the show… It was written in the early 2000s but it has that 1950s tongue and cheek sense of humor.”
Mr. Bunting (in charge of the vocals of the actors), describes the music style as “..a fairly traditional Broadway musical score, a lot of music that’s fun and uptempo, with a lot of colorful harmonies.” His favorite song is “Show People” because it “features a number of different students singing lead vocals as well as the whole ensemble. It’s all about sharing how much fun it is to put up a musical.”
To present a glimpse of what it felt like to live in the 50s, I went to Zoe Borden, who is part of the costume crew. I asked what was most important for her to capture the essence of the 50s, to which she replied, “We would look back at pictures of the era, and notice their everyday outfits were more formal, like dresses or cut off pants. We tried to pay close attention to the shape of the garment and what actors would wear to their rehearsals.” We are sure to see some lovely dresses and suits of the time as well as some of the other costumes from the play within the play.
Audrey Babaoglu, the stage manager for this production, explained “The way the actors, pit, and the crew work together is what really makes the show happen. I hope people are just impressed with the music and the set overall and how the show looks with all of us putting our best effort forth.”
Keya Kumar, who plays the innocent Niki Harris, notes “There are so many different possibilities, twists, and it takes place close to home,” which we agree makes it even better.
LSB shows have always produced something new each year. This brought us to our final question to Carly, “After so many years of success and experience directing shows, do you feel you have more or less pressure now when taking on new projects?”
She answered, “Definitely more pressure – with each year the musical has to be great or greater. It’s scary to choose outside of the popular ones, this one especially, when I mention it I get a ‘oh’ with a head tilt, like they don’t know what I’m talking about. But once I explain it, it becomes clearer. They just have to take a leap!” We hope that you’ll take a leap into the 1950s along with us next week.
Please come by to see Curtains on November 15-18th! Performances will be in the auditorium at 7:30 pm. To get tickets email [email protected].
