Richelle Lutz

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.

Spinning a story with a bit of Broadway

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By John Lyle Belden

These are unusual times, so here is an unusual show.

While advising all who feel unwell or uncomfortable to sit this one out, Fat Turtle Theatre is, last we heard, continuing with its production of “This is Us: An Inspirational Steampunk Broadway Cabaret.”

This is a little out of the comfort zone for Fat Turtle, a company that typically does plays, as well as founder Aaron Cleveland, who as the show’s Narrator is called upon to sing. But it does fit within the mission of presenting Indiana works, as the revue of Broadway songs are hung like ornaments on an original story by local playwright Nicole Amsler.

The setting and aesthetic, as noted in the title, are the alternate-history dystopia of Steampunk, with its corsets and clockworks. This helps give the whole production a familiar, yet otherworldly feel. 

Cleveland recites Amsler’s fable about a grieving father who devises “a machine to take all the pain of the world” and how his children strive to save him from it. Honestly, it sounds like the seed from which a great original musical could be grown.

But for now, we get an interesting selection of songs that loosely fit the theme, taken from a wide variety of Broadway shows. While some are easily recognizable, like a tune from “Wicked,” and include current hits like one from “Dear Evan Hansen,” there are also numbers from shows such as “Newsies,” “The Color Purple,” “Kinky Boots,” “Jekyll & Hyde,” “Mean Girls,” and even a beautifully appropriate song from the underappreciated “Pirate Queen.” 

To deliver these song-and-dance bits, we have area talents Tessa Gibbons, Jessica Hawkins, Kaitlin Holden, Jenn Kaufmann, Richelle Lutz, Jennifer Poytner, Brad Root and Jackson Stollings. Direction and choreography are by Andrea Odle, and there is a small band of musicians, led by Linda Parr. 

The result is an entertaining distraction — for a couple of hours — from current events, and the opportunity to enjoy songs even fans of showtunes don’t hear every day. This gang puts their hearts into their performances — as well as a bit of humor, when Hawkins and Stollings take on a fun old standard. Actually, every individual gets a chance to stand center and shine. 

The costumes, by Shannon Rice, include inventive use of blue LED wires to enhance the retro-sci-fi feel and add necessary emphasis when the circuits resemble the human heart. 

There is one scheduled weekend left, March 20-21 at The Switch, 10029 E. 126th St., Suite D, Fishers (in Ji-Eun Lee Music Academy), and as this cabaret is also a company fundraiser, all who are interested, and feel up to it, are encouraged to attend, or at least consider Fat Turtle in your charitable giving.

Details are at FatTurtleTheatre.com.