By John Lyle Belden

Do you like great comedy? How about an interesting whodunit? A pair of actors taking on numerous roles throughout? A clever musical? Even skillful four-hand piano playing? Well, has Actors Theatre of Indiana got a show for you!

In the Indiana premiere of Off-Broadway hit “Murder for Two,” by Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair, Adam LaSalle primarily plays Officer (on the verge of being Detective) Marcus Moscowitz, and David Corlew plays nearly everyone else — AKA “the Suspects” — in the home of famed mystery author Arthur Whitney — AKA the victim. Both actors also play the piano that sits in the middle of the room — sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes switching off or together, always with a high degree of skill.

A surprise party for Whitney takes a shocking turn when, as he enters the front door, he is shot in the forehead!  His wife is naturally distraught, as someone has stolen the ice cream, and all the other guests, including a talkative psychiatrist, a beautiful prima ballerina, a bickering old couple, Whitney’s highly inquisitive niece, and a three-member Twelve-Member Boys Choir, are all acting suspicious as each one has a motive to off the author. Enter “Detective” Marcus and his unseen partner, Lou (two actors can only do so much). The officers were instructed to secure the scene until the actual Detective arrives, in an hour, but Marcus seizes the opportunity to crack the case and win his promotion.

This show is loaded with laughs, wacky character switching (sometimes seeming to catch the actors off-guard), piano work that’s a cross between Victor Borge and the Marx Brothers, and well-timed fourth-wall moments that work wonderfully in the intimate confines of the Studio Theater. Corlew’s skills as a circus performer (a “quadruple-threat”?) aid the physical comedy, and he and LaSalle have excellent chemistry, despite the fact they first met at rehearsals.

Corlew is based in Chicago, and LaSalle in New York; director Tony Clements said after a triumphant opening night, “I was so glad they got along so well from the beginning.” Clements also noted that despite many free-wheeling moments, the script only allowed for a few points of possible improvisation. Still, one would be hard-pressed to find where in all the controlled chaos they actually winged it. 

And kudos to Lou; we didn’t see a single flaw in his performance. 

ATI serves up “Murder for Two” through Feb. 16 on its stage at the Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Carmel. For info and tickets, call 317-843-3800 or visit atistage.org or thecenterpresents.org.

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P.S. ATI will also present a two-night special event, a special production of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” with a full cast joined by the Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Feb. 21-22 at the Palladium in the Center for the Performing Arts (north side of the ice rink). Performers include ATI founders Don Farrell as Sweeney, Judy Fitzgerald as Mrs. Lovett, and Cynthia Collins as the Beggar Woman, as well as Elizabeth Hutson (Joanna), Rory Shivers-Brimm (Jonas Fogg), Karaline Feller (Bird Seller), Mario Almonte III (Pirelli), Tim Fullerton (Judge Turpin), Matthew Conwell (Anthony), David Cunningham (Tobias), Michael Elliott (Beadle), and an 80-member chorus from the Indianapolis Arts Chorale. See the above contact information for tickets.