REVIEW: Murder for Two: Holiday Edition sparkles and delights at theREP
Through 12/28 @ Capital Repertory Theatre
Photos by Kevin Montano
“What a gift theREP has presented to us with these two protean performers, especially the gigantically talented co-creator Kinosian, who whizzes through characters and tunes as easily as you can imagine.”
Murder for Two: Holiday Edition at Capital Repertory Theatre through 12/28 is a relentlessly charming, rib-tickler of a two-hander musical comedy that will wear down your grinchiness and have you barking with laughter long before the killer is revealed.
Anthony Norman plays Officer Marcus Moscowicz investigating the murder of mystery novelist Arthur Whitney at his rural New England great house, where he walked into a surprise birthday party that gifted him a bullet to the forehead. Joe Kinosian, the musical’s co-author and composer, plays all the suspects. What a gift theREP has presented to us with these two protean performers, especially the gigantically talented co-creator Kinosian, who whizzes through characters and tunes as easily as you can imagine. Norman has all the gumption and Hardy Boys forthrightness to make his arc a lot of fun and very appealing.
The surprise party is a great set-up for the mystery, gathering all the victims’ nearest and dearest (relatives, rivals and ringers), then plunging us into darkness before the shot rings out. Officer Moscowicz’s investigation of all the suspects’ motives are deliciously intertwined with the victim’s life and work as he based his murder mystery novels’ victims on THEM!
There is much to amuse here: wild physical characterizations from Kinosian’s suspects who range from the constantly stretching ballet dancer Barette Lewis, to the wizened wheelchair bound Dr. Griff, to the trio from the boys choir – Tiny Timmy, Pickwick and Skid, who the actor takes to his knees to play. I can’t pick a favorite suspect though the bickering neighbors Murray & Barb Flandon made me laugh with many exchanges.
The puns are relentless, the callbacks pay off bigger and bigger and the actors’ bond with the audience strengthens as the show goes on. Late in the show, Kinosian even referenced a pair of women who left the show half an hour earlier earning a HUGE laugh and appreciation from all of us who stuck with the hijinks.
Director Scott Weinstein keeps the corks popping and the hugger muggering; the cheerful holiday homicidal party is a very manageable 90 minutes.
The book co-authored by Kellen Blair is steeped in Agatha Christie tropes, name-checking And Then There Were None. The mystery has a satisfying story hook to keep us alert. The music is a jaunty, jazzy riff on 20’s and 30’s ragtime popularized by Zeb Confrey and The Marx Brothers. Have I mentioned yet that the two performers accompany themselves (separately and together), bringing more awe-struck grins on piano throughout the show?!? Kinosian is also the music director!
The fun set by Czerton Lim smuggles Christmas cheer on stage. Kinosian gripes about the Holiday Edition qualifiers of the enterprise by saying the script just utters “some random Christmas words every couple of Reindeer!” Union College costume designer Brittney Belz has Kinosian in a nuttily festive pink and lime vest and pants that dazzle. Jennifer Fok and Eric Backus are the lighting and sound designers with lots of precise spots and crashes to hit, which Stage Manager Shayne David Cameris executes flawlessly.
I found it impossible not to have a good time at this cheery, madcap romp of a Christmas cocktail, overflowing with high spirits, jaw-dropping talent and ridiculous comedy.
Murder for Two: Holiday Edition playing at theREP through 12/28. Tickets: www.attherep.org
