This "musical comedy whodunnit" doubles down on the hijinks and hammy humor.
Quirky shows are fun. But quirk can only carry us so far.
"Murder for Two," a two-actor, "musical comedy whodunnit" that opens the season at New Brunswick's George Street Playhouse, doubles down on hijinks and hammy humor at the expense of character and compelling story. Some jokes connect, others miss the mark, and on the whole the show makes for an entertaining evening.
But in the end "Murder for Two" seems mostly a vaudeville act -- the pleasure comes from the performances, not necessarily the shopworn content.
Written by Joe Kinosian (book and music) and Kellen Blair (book and lyrics), the story takes place in a creepy old mansion where all the denizens of a small town have gathered for the surprise birthday party of a local author.
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His birthday surprise is an abrupt and mysterious murder, precipitating the arrival of a flunky cop determined to crack the case. The murdered author had spent a long career writing novels based on the town and its colorful characters -- thus everybody has a motive; all are suspects; and nobody knows a thing. You've heard this story before.
Of course, a thin and formulaic story isn't necessarily a problem. Like so many of its predecessors in the genre, the whodunit functions as springboard for a broad palate of characters. What are a prima ballerina, grizzled old psychiatrist, and precocious preteen boys' choir all doing at the same birthday party? Doesn't matter. They are here so that the show can have some fun with them.
The high points of "Murder for Two" feature actors Joe Kinosian (left) and Ian Lowe performing on the same piano. (Joan Marcus) "Murder for Two'"s unique approach to the familiar formula is to limit its cast to just two performers. Ian Lowe plays Marcus, the bumbling officer hoping to solve the mystery and make detective, while Joe Kinosian, one of the show's co-creators, plays about a dozen party guests (he's billed in the program as playing "The Suspects.")
Of course, this sort of role jumping has been popular in recent years, in shows like "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder," "The 39 Steps," and by the New York company Bedlam, producers of a stunning four-person "Saint Joan." "Murder for Two" deploys the technique with much less success.
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Changes in voice, posture, or small costumes elements distinguish each character, and over the course of the play Kinosian does impressive work to carve out unique space for each. He is at his best as the victim's eccentric wife and as the spunky graduate student utterly tickled by the whole affair because she is writing a thesis on small-town crime scene investigation. Few of the other characters, though, are clever or inventive enough to be compelling.
Part of the challenge for this production of "Murder for Two," directed by Scott Schwartz, is that it follows on the heels of George Street's recent success with another quirky musical, "Gettin' The Band Back Together" and with its production of "The 39 Steps." Both were excellent versions of shows in the same vein as this one, making "Murder for Two" seem like "The 39 Steps Light." (There is even shadow projection, and a strained Hitchcock reference.)
The high points of "Murder for Two" are when its cast shares the bench and the keys of the grand piano that dominates the stage. Kinosian and Lowe trade roles as singer and piano accompaniment for most of the show's hokey songs, but occasionally they share the instrument for impressively frenetic instrumentals, augmented by physical gags like trading places on the bench or reaching around each other to play different parts of the keyboard.
The effect is something like dueling pianos on one instrument and it makes for great spectacle. Happily, the ninety-minute show seems fully aware of its strengths, and wisely closes with a two-man piano flourish.
Murder for Two, George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, through Oct. 25.
Tickets: $28 - $69. Available online or by phone, (732) 246-7717
Patrick Maley may be reached at patrickjmaley@gmail.com. Find him on Twitter@PatrickJMaley. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.
