{"id":2477,"date":"2007-10-14T08:43:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-14T15:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=2477"},"modified":"2007-10-14T08:43:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-14T15:43:00","slug":"whodunnit-i-dunno-lets-vote-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=2477","title":{"rendered":"Whodunnit? I dunno. Let\u2019s vote on it."},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night, we went to the final performance of \u201cThe Mystery of Edwin Drood<\/a><\/i>\u201d at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center<\/a>. I was very glad that we only had to go to Simi Valley and not the REP<\/a>, because we were able to avoid the mess that is the I-5\/Route 14 junction<\/a>. Anyway, on to the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mystery of Edwin Drood<\/a><\/i>\u201d is a musical based on the unfinished novel<\/a> by Messr. C. Dickens<\/a>, with book, music, and lyrics by Messr. Rupert Holmes<\/a>. The story concerns a young man, Edwin Drood, who is about to marry a beautiful young lady, Rosa Bud. Unfortunately for Edwin, his uncle is Rosa\u2019s music teacher and is also in love with Rosa. His uncle also suffers from a medical condition (I think migraines) that has him visiting the opium dens in London (run by Princess Puffer). Added to the mix is are the brother and sisters Neville and Helena Landless from Ceylon: Neville and Edwin have a distinct dislike for one another, as Edwin is English<\/i> and Neville is British<\/i>. There is also the comic relief subplot about Durdles and Deputy digging a crypt for the Lord Mayor, and a seemingly lecherous Reverend Mr. Chrisparkle. One night, after a dinner at Jaspers, Edwin disappears. The group starts to investigate the murder when… led by Princess Puffer and a mysterious stranger, Dick Dachery. However, shortly after that point, Dickens died and the story was finished.<\/p>\n

Here is where the conceit of the play comes it. The play is told in the setting of an English Musical Hall (in fact, the original opening number (captured on a Lost in Boston album) was \u201cAn English Music Hall\u201d), and so the actors are playing actors in the Music Hall Royale production of December 29, 1892, who are playing the actors in the story. This leads to an intentional \u201cmelodrama\u201d style of performance, where actors are introduced as the Music Hall actor in their first scenes, and the play is presided over by a Chairman who relates the story and sets each scene. It also leads to the main conceit: audience participation. <\/p>\n

Yes, audience participation. When the play abruptly stops, there are four open questions:<\/p>\n