Recently, Stuart Hall put up our second spring play post-pandemic. Previously, “Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful
Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic,” was on, and now it is the “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940.” If you went and saw the play, you’d hopefully know the plot, but in case you didn’t, here’s a summary. A Broadway team is brought back together after an unfortunate closing of their last show, where three women died at the hands of the infamous Stage Door Slasher. The team goes to a wealthy donor, hoping to receive money to put up their show. After things get underway, the producer is tragically murdered, setting off a series of light-outages, murders, secret passageways, and multiple murders. In the end, the Stage Door Slasher is revealed and the saboteur is arrested.
This play took ~3 months to prepare, with many setbacks and last-minute finalizing, but it turned out to be an overall success. “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” features a library set, equipped with four secret entrances, a sliding bookshelf, another bookshelf-door, a closet, and a revolving wall panel. These were all operated by a backstage manager (and the occasional free actor), who ran behind the stage from passage to passage, opening them just in time. This job required ducking, quick timing, and lots of rushing, but Theoren Griffin managed to do it all with no noticeable flaws (shoutout!)
On another scale, we had two fantastic light & soundboard operators, MK O’Connell & Claire St. John-Kelley, who worked hard and well with nothing but an unfortunate sneeze here, and a problematic board there. Overall, they did an excellent job meeting their light and sound cues, doing a huge job for the play.
Finally, the actors, the first piece of the play's production. The cast from this play was made up of a mix of new and returning actors, and one or two who debuted with this play. As an actor, you are expected to have memorized your lines by their due date, which many actors failed to achieve, leaving most of the cast & crew worrying about the performances. However, they all managed to pull through, only missing a few lines here and there; no performance is perfect, after all. They covered up many of the mistakes quickly, either someone else saying the line for them, or making something up (something that would hopefully keep the scene going.) All's well that ends well, isn't that right?
Overall, “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” turned out great, with few spoken regrets and great reviews. Many saying they “loved it,” others sharing narrower views, such as “I really liked how you died, I don’t think I saw you break character once while laying there.” Or, “Those accent changes were incredible, I really love how everyone fits their character so well.” The play was received wonderfully, and our venue, Silver Line, is happy to return next year for STU’s next spring play, “The Fall of Thebes” by Andrew Knight.
Cover picture by Desi R. Emmert-Hart
-Maggie Anderson