Elizabeth Ruddell

CCP presents funny whodunit

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By John Lyle Belden

In the whodunit world, things are never as they first appear. “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940,” by John Bishop, is presented by Carmel Community Players, but in Noblesville, as CCP is still raising funds for a hometown stage.

Also, there’s not a whole lot of music. It’s more about making and staging a musical, with only a couple of choruses sung. And, really, it’s about the murders of 1938, when the show “Manhattan Holiday” flopped in part because the cast mutinied after chorus girls were knocked off one by one by the Stage Door Slasher, who was never caught.

So, now, in late 1940, we are in the home of “angel” investor Elsa Von Grossenknueten (Richelle Lutz), who is gathering fellow persons involved in “Manhattan Holiday” who wish to pitch a new musical, “White House Merry-Go-Round.” She also invited a friend, Michael Kelly (Sam Brown), a very thinly-disguised NYPD Detective. We should also note that the maid, Helsa Wenzel (Tanya Haas), a fellow Bavarian who Elsa brought to America when things got rough in Germany (note the date), was apparently killed by a masked phantom in the opening scene, then comes back unharmed doing her regular duties minutes later. Also – and this is important to both the plot and the comedy – the house is riddled with secret doors and passages, with practically every wall on stage capable of opening or revolving.

Arriving through the snowstorm that will trap them there (naturally) are charming but unfunny comic Eddie McCuen (Jeffrey Haber), stage and screen director Ken De La Maize (Kelly Keller), chorine turned actress Nikki Crandall (Hannah Janowicz), overbearing producer Marjorie Baverstock (Eboni Wallace), Irish tenor Patrick O’Reilly (Robert Fimreite) and bickering songwriting duo Roger Hopewell (Eric Bowman) and Bernice Roth (Amber Roth). Note that by the final curtain, a number of these characters will each turn out to be someone entirely different – this includes, of course, the Stage Door Slasher!

Directed by Elizabeth Ruddell, whose assistant, the mysterious O. Carrier, performs the phantom, this play embraces both mystery and farce. The former is complicated by encroaching shadows of war, and the latter gets wacky even to the point of a “Scooby-Doo” moment among sliding and spinning doors. Standout performances include Haas being full of surprises, Keller stylishly dropping names in his alleged films, Haber showing the talent it takes to be good at being “bad,” and Janowicz playing a true triple-threat – singing, dancing, and firearms.

Four performances remain, Thursday through Sunday, March 2-5, at the Ivy Tech Noblesville Auditorium, 300 N. 17th St. Get info and tickets at CarmelPlayers.org.

Pain of decades-old loss lingers in McNally play

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By John Lyle Belden

We are often reminded to “Never Forget” a devastating event or era, but those who went through it often can’t stop remembering. Every day, any little thing can bring up a memory of someone who was lost.

“Mothers and Sons” by Terrance McNally, presented by Main Street Productions in Westfield, has a cast of four actors, but there are five characters. Not present but very much felt is Andre, who died 20 years earlier during the AIDS epidemic. We are in the New York apartment, with a view of Central Park as lights come on during the longest night of the year, of Cal (Austin Uebelhor), who had been Andre’s partner and caregiver in his final days. To his mild surprise, he is visited by Andre’s mother, Katherine (Elizabeth Ruddell). Recently widowed, she arrived from Dallas (where Andre grew up) with plans to fly to Europe. Cal shares his home with husband Will (Nicholas Heskett) and their young son, Bud (Tyler Acquaviva).

We come to learn a lot about Cal, Will, Katherine, and Andre. Will chafes at the thought of competing with a ghost. Katherine still harbors resentments and denial – “Andre wasn’t gay when he went to New York.” Cal tries to keep the pain of the past in perspective even as it rises up to overwhelm him again.

“Who’s Andre?” Little Bud is chock full of questions, lots of questions.

This heartfelt play is a comedy, with lots of chuckles throughout, but there is pain that must be dealt with. Grief has no time limit or expiration; before the evening is done, so that Bud and his family can trim the Christmas tree, each adult will have their say.

Ruddell makes Katherine hard to love, but easy to understand. Heskett presents as a superficial millennial, but he emerges Will’s own sense of maturity. Acquaviva delivers the right level of charm. Uebelhor is superb as the man who has had to be a rock for so long, the cracks are undeniable.

Jim LaMonte directs, happy to present this play that he hopes “will broaden [people’s] definition of family.” For those of us who remember the 1980s and ‘90s, this show is also a loving tribute to the struggles so many endured – those who became names on a quilt, and those left behind to stitch them on.

Remaining performances are Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 17-20, at Basile Westfield Playhouse, 220 N. Union St. Get info and tickets at WestfieldPlayhouse.org.