The Musical Comedy Murders Of 1940

Last week, I made lemon cookies. My grandmother always made them when I was a kid, and I remembered them fondly. So, Mom dug out the recipe, and I got to work. A lot of work. After several hours, we were chewing on mediocre nothing special sugar cookies. Where was Grandma's magic touch?

Grandma's magic touch is missing, too, in Drury Lane Oakbrook's current production,
THE MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS OF 1940. Just like those lemon cookies, this comedy exists only to entertain and satisfy; there's nothing good-for-you about it. For the most part, the actor's give it their all, and John Bishop's script, a play on Agatha Christie's THE MOUSETRAP, has its share of puns and double entendres that could satisfy a not too discerning sweet tooth looking for mindless fun. But, Grandma's magic touch is nowhere in evidence.

The pacing under the usually reliable Ray Frewen is sometimes manic, andsometimes meandering, but never quite captures the precision timing required, especially in the moments when knife wielding killers are supposed to shockingly appear behind closet doors, or pull unsuspecting innocents into secret passageways.

Some of the credit has to fall on the cast, some of whom play up their cartoony roles to the hilt, while others have decided to employ a naturalism, and the two never gel into a comfortable whole. If the Playbill didn't list their innumerable and respectable credits, or if they weren't already familiar from past acting triumphs, it would seem that some of the players were right off the community theatre circuit, where slack pacing, second tier scripts, and a genuine lethargy (especially deadly in farces and whodunits) can be the norm.

Kurt Sharp's predictable set design does nicely capture a dark, wood paneled room in a mansion of upstate New york, where several theater types gther for a backer's audition, while a snowstorm rages outside, eventually cutting off the phones, and then the electricity. Too bad the Stage Door Slasher is on the loose, not to mention the head of a Nazi spy ring. In the midst of all this, romance blossoms, bookcases open to reveal passageways, and everyone acts up a storm.

No one should come to a play like this expecting subtlety, but Fiona Bergin is a solid presence amidst the chaos, as a chorus girl, and Eddie McCuen nicely captures the old fashioned comic sidekick, even if his romance with Bergin holds no sparks.

Interestingly, Bergin was in Drury Lane's production of THE MOUSETRAP last season, and, while that production was not revelatory, it was the kind of solid show usually presented in this theater.

Still, the 110 year old audience seemed enthralled, as they chattered throughout the production, sometimes overtaking the put upon actors. In fact, the women seated next to me never failed to gasp at every dead body, before discussing at length, how terrible it is to be murdered.