![]() There are very nice, very clean new seats, nice décor on the walls, and a pretty good sound system. The 3Below Stage and auditorium has been very nicely cleaned up, from its old days as part of the Camera 3. Yes, it’s a lot, but it’s fun, and well-performed by the cast of 11. Is Drood dead? Who is that weird-looking “detective” who showed up? If Drood is dead, who killed him? Out of four women and four men, which two get to hook up for a happy ending, and sing their happy song? At first, Bouchard gives Landless a vaguely Asian accent, but that evolves into something that sounds Eastern European, then Conover complains that it’s silly to try to do accents at all.Įventually, the audience is allowed to vote on a number of questions. And it’s all funny.Ī favorite, ongoing gag: Amy Bouchard plays Janet Conover, one of the panto troupe who plays Helena Landless, who is from Thailand. Throughout the story, the panto troupe stops the action occasionally to note that a clue has just popped up! So, no worries about keeping up. Drood disappears, although the coat he’d been wearing, slashed by a knife and covered in blood, is found. Then Landless shows up and is immediately smitten with Rosa Bud, whose honor must be defended. But Rosa Bud doesn’t want the creepy Jasper, either. Neither Drood nor Rosa Bud want the marriage they just want to be friends. Drood is betrothed to Rosa Bud, which angers Jasper, who wants her for himself. ![]() The story has Drood visiting his uncle, Jasper. (Mark & Tracy Photography/Guggenheim Entertainment) Stephen Guggenheim, left, and Benjamin Pither star in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” at 3Below Theaters in San Jose. Pither is very adroit and funny as Chairman William Cartwright, who infuses every turn on stage with panache, dressed in elegant spats, and puts on a hilarious voice as Mayor Thomas Sapsea in the play within the play. There is a lot of excellent singing in this production, including Benjamin Pither as the Mayor/Chairman in “There You Are,” Swain as Princess Puffer with “The Wages of Sin,” and Pither and Stephen Guggenheim with “Both Sides of the Coin.” A smart decision was made to use rented orchestral tracks, rather than try to find a space to squeeze 21 musicians into the intimate theater, and saving the rehearsal time. Now Guggenheim Entertainment in San Jose has gathered a very good cast to perform this impressive musical at 3Below Theatres & Lounge. Holmes won Drama Desk Awards for lyrics, music, the book and orchestrations, and Tony awards for book and score. People loved it - it’s funny, and the songs are great earworms that stay with the audience for hours afterward. Holmes took something known and grim and unfinished, and combined it with the goofy and entertaining panto form to create a play within a play featuring a panto troupe. And since people had tried and failed to come up with a satisfactory ending to “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” Holmes got the idea of having the audience vote on how it should end. ![]() ![]() He hit on the idea of making Charles Dickens’ last - and unfinished - novel into a musical, by combining it with the British panto form. Rupert Holmes, who’d been enjoying a career writing clever pop songs for himself and such stars as Gene Pitney, The Platters, The Drifters, Wayne Newton, Dolly Parton and others, was asked by theater impresario Joseph Papp to write a new musical. ![]()
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