4/24/08

Campy murder musical livens Everett stage

by Sam Severn

It’s midnight in the murder mansion and the campy characters are droppin’ like flies in “Something’s Afoot,” a madcap-mystery-musical that is literally to-die-for.

Currently playing at the Everett Theatre for one final weekend, this silly slaughterhouse show is two laugh-packed hours of sinister song and suspicious minds wreaking comical carnage.

A madhouse spoof of Agatha Christie mysteries, “Something’s Afoot” follows the zany singing and dancing adventures of ten characters, trapped on an isolated island and fighting to stay alive for one dark night in a creaky old English manor, as the body count grows. And grows. And grows. 

Murder most foul—and funny—strikes them all.  That “the butler didn’t do it” is no secret—it’s deduced in lyrics crooned by the nine survivors in one of the first spoofy tunes in the show, as the old gent lies dead on the floor. One by one the other clueless characters meet the same fate.

The jokes are as creaky as the old house but presented with gusto galore.

Carrying the play are a collection of comically over-baked British stereotypes of the Agatha Christie gene pool, including a saucy maid, a conniving caretaker, a mustachioed black-sheep nephew, and a stiff-upper-lip army officer. 

Director Eric Lewis has stocked the play with some of Everett’s finest actors to make all this madness zip merrily across the stage.

The snoopy amateur sleuth Miss Tweed is played with fiendish glee by Laura Abel, complete with Miss Marple magnifying glass and a voice like an air-raid siren. Sweet and innocent ingénue Hope is brought to life by a radiant Cheryl Platz. As Colonel Gillweather, crusty old army man of the British Realm, Justin Tinsley has a death scene that will leave you in stitches.  His bawdy duet with Krista McRae, who portrays the naughty Lady Grace, is a scorching-hot  highlight of the show.

The supporting cast of Wendy Enden, Bruce Eriksen, Ki Punches, Jeff Christenson, Tom Cook, Matt Glazener, and R. Scott Mitchell are just as wonderfully wacky.

Special kudos must be trotted out to choreographer Vicki MacKay, whose troupe hoofs and hot-cha-chas in high style.

Posted at the entrance to the show is a warning regarding the special effects. They indeed are KILLER. Lightning, gunshots, power outages, crashing chandeliers, poison gas and murderous explosions will have you on the edge of your seat.

The only mystery left unsolved at the final curtain call is why this show hasn’t been a bigger hit on Broadway. But we’ll leave that for a future Miss Marple to solve.

Final performances for “Something’s Afoot” are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 25-27.  For more details, call the Everett Theatre Box Office at (425) 258-6766, or visit them online at www.everetttheatre.org.

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