Jason Manford, comedian and TV star, takes to the stage with an ambitious new production of Curtains: A Musical Whodunnit, currently touring the UK. One of the less famous musicals by Broadway veterans John Cander and Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago), the concept is to merge a traditional whodunnit murder mystery with a musical.
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The plot centres around the failing production of “Robbin Hood” a cowboy western musical which is performing in Boston with the hope to go all the way to the bright lights of Broadway. As the cast takes to the stage for its opening night, the utterly dreadful leading lady Jessica Cranshaw (Nia
Jermin) is murdered as she takes her curtain call.
The cast are quickly placed on lockdown as the stage is declared a crime scene. Lt Frank Cioffi (Manford) arrives to solve this murder mystery
and close the case. However as a self confessed musical theatre lover he appears to spend more time fawning over the stars than crime solving.
As the body count adds up and the tension builds, the drama off the stage seems more complex than on stage. Can Cioffi stay focused and solve the
crime? Can this failing production be saved from closing? Or is it a case of curtains down forever?
In keeping with the cowboy western theme, this production features a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Manford is clearly having the time of his life on stage and he immediately endears himself to the audience with his cute, innocent and excited alter-ego Lt Frank Cioffi.
Manford’s comic timing and stage presence ensure he can more than rise to the role of leading man. The director character Christopher Belling (Samuel Holmes) was also a crowd favourite with his suitably stereotypical camp, ego driven persona and one-liners dripping with sarcasm and disdain.
He had the audience in stitches as he sniped and eye-rolled at the cast with various savage one-liners and along with Manford got one of the biggest cheers of the night.
The writing is a highlight of the show with comedy moments that parody traditional musical theatre stereotypes.
The style of the musical is reminiscent of Kiss me Kate and 42nd Street, however with so many different characters and a complex plot which switches between scenes from “the show within the show” and the murder mystery investigation backstage, the plot tends to get a little lost in the middle.
The dramatic conclusion helps bring things back together for the finale. The experienced cast deliver solid dramatic performances complete with clipped accents, American drawls, trilling soprano vocals and all the glitz and glamour of old school Broadway choreography.
The musical numbers were missing show-stoppers with one blending into the next, a bit like the procession of under-developed characters. A tad
disappointing given the calibre of the composerss’ previous musical scores for Chicago and Cabaret.
On the whole, an entertaining enough bit of musical theatre escapism. Tickets available until Saturday 14th March at the King’s Theatre.