There’s been a murder at the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts at Allan Hancock College! It occurred right before our eyes on the PCPA stage, as music and mayhem abounded in the comedy whodunnit and show-within-a-show, Curtains. Spoiler alert! This hilarious, entertaining show will slay you (all puns are intended) with perfect timing and terrific singing. There’s not a foul note amid the killer jokes in this almost flawless production.
Think Columbo goes to Chicago and plays Clue with Busby Berkeley and you’ve got the Tony-award winning show Curtains. In 1946 Boston, the cast and crew of a Broadway-bound theater troupe are questioned by Detective Frank Cioffi (Andrew Philpot) after leading lady Jessica Cranshaw (Mara Lefler) takes her final bow and is murdered on stage.
But the critics have already killed the group’s shot at the Big White Way by axing the show, the musical turkey egg Robbin’ Hood: A New Musical of the Old West. One humorous show tune blasts theater critics, asking “What Kind of Man” would take a job like that? My grandson, Sam, whispered “I think they’re singing about you!”
I said this show was almost flawless, because during this song the cast reads newspapers, and as they held them up, Sam remarked “I can see the Sudoku puzzles!” Sorry, PCPA, you’ve been outed by an 8-year-old. There were no sudokus in newspapers in 1946.
Cioffi is a star-struck gumshoe who loves the theater and actress Niki Harris (Karin Hendricks), who steals his heart. Another romance simmers between partners Georgia Hendricks (Melinda Parrett) and Aaron Fox (Michael Jenkinson), the songwriting partners of Robbin’ Hood. Other distractions abound in the forms of bossy show producer Carmen Bernstein (Kitty Balay Green), her stuffy husband Sidney (Evans Eden Jarnefeldt), diva wannabe Bambi Bernet (Natasha Harris), and flamboyant company director Christopher Belling (Erik Stein). How anything gets done on stage or backstage to solve the crime is a wonder, as is this hysterical show.
Curtains is brilliantly directed by Roger DeLaurier, with top-notch musical direction by Callum Morris, great choreography by Jenkinson, and a cool, multi-purpose set by DeAnne Kennedy. Superb dramatic lighting by Jennifer ‘Z’ Zornow, clear-as-a-bell sound by Matt Carpenter, and terrific period costumes by Frederick P. Deeben all evoke the post-World War II era.
Curtains was penned John Kander and Fred Ebb (based on a book by the late Peter Stone of 1776 fame, and completed by Rupert Holmes, who won a Tony for Drood). What makes PCPA’s production of this show so darned funny are the actors.
Lefler is a hoot as fading diva Cranshaw, whom “angels heard and shut her mouth and shipped her south.” She’s on stage only briefly, but you’ll remember her. Cranshaw can’t act, dance, or sing, but Lefler can and returns in the second act as part of the energetic and melodious chorus.
Leading ladies Kendricks, Parrett, and Genge are remarkable. Hendricks’ Niki Harris is light and breezy with a lovely soprano voice. Parrett’s warm, mellifluous singing reminded me of a young Dinah Shore, and she has the greatest, high-kicking gams in the show. Genge is one red-headed, red-hot mama as her rich voice belts out lyrics and one-liners like a Howitzer. Natasha Harris is snippy as Bambi Bernet and a snappy dancer, to boot.
The male leads match the ladies in talent and comedic spark. Jenkinson’s love-struck Aaron Fox is earnest and sweet, an ideal male ingénue with a beautiful baritone. PCPA veteran Peter S. Hadres brings class and a bit of sass to company general manager, Oscar Shapiro. Rhett Guter is a wonderful dancer and fun to watch as leading man Bobby Pepper.
Adam Schroeder gives the perfect menacing snoot to theater critic Daryl Grady. (Gawd! Do all show people think of us like this? I’m really a very nice person behind my critiquing pen!) Jarnefeldt is wonderfully malicious as Sidney Bernstein, Carmen’s cold and calculating husband.
Another PCPA veteran, Corey Jones, is rock solid as stage manager Johnny Harmon. He’s the perfect foil and straight man to Stein’s egotistic and ducky British director, Christopher Belling. Stein is the comic highlight, firing off one-liners as he tries to put on a show in the midst of a murder investigation. And Stein really puts on a show, as well as carries the star (in my opinion) of the play: Ophelia. I’ve heard it said that there are no small parts, only actors with small parts. Ophelia has the smallest part and parts in the show: She is the fattest, fluffiest white cat I have ever seen and, like all animals, steals all her scenes. Brava, Miss Kitty!
Finally, the members of the chorus are remarkable! Some play multiple roles, and all are a joy to watch. I recognized several players from other shows and their presence is a testament to PCPA’s staying power. Your ticket price, and any additional donation you can make to PCPA Theaterfest, helps fund future productions and scholarships. Whatever you do, don’t let the curtain go down on Curtains without seeing it! You’ll have so much fun and laugh so hard it’ll kill you (remember, puns intended)!
Ariel Waterman loves hearing others sing about her. Send show tunes via her editor, Ryan Miller, at rmiller@santa
mariason.com.
This article appears in Apr 22-29, 2010.