Review: AN OLD-FASHIONED FAMILY MURDER at New Theatre & Restaurant

Imagine a very funny stage comedy hidden behind a locked door, puzzler of a 1940s mystery movie and you’ve got AN OLD-FASHIONED FAMILY MURDER now playing at New Theatre and Restaurant.   It is a World Premiere production.

Double Tony-winning playwright Joe DiPietro has cleverly developed a recipe for an uproarious new farce.  DiPietro pours every possible Film Noir detective cliché into a mixing bowl.  He peoples his play with the worst possible stereotypical stock characters. 

A generous portion of Agatha Christie is folded into the mix and heated. While the pot boils, the final ingredient is added, the detectives. They piece together the puzzle. The result is delicious. Voila! From the audience reaction, AN OLD-FASHIONED FAMILY MURDER is a hit.

There are certain standard rules to which all theatrical writers adhere! Number One: NEVER have the story begin on a dark and stormy night. Number Two: NEVER EVER set the story in a dark Victorian mansion.  Number Three: NEVER, EVER EVER have a pompous, obnoxious, mystery writer announce there is going to be a MURDER.

AN OLD-FASHIONED FAMILY MURDER begins in the Great Hall of a dark, Victorian Mansion on a dark and stormy night.  Arthur Wittington (Kevin Ligon) announces he is a mystery writer in a huge, presentational Vincent Pricey voice and there is going to be a MURDER. 

The mansion is the home of miserly, demanding Col. Claythorne.  He is much mentioned, but never seen.  Hmmm…  The Colonel lives in the home with his two daughters, Clarice (Marina Shay) and Dotty (Caitlin Kinnunen).

Clarice is a very, blond, very leggy, very sexy woman in her late twenties.  She spends much of her time at the bar of the local country club. 

Charice’s fiancé is Jasper Jamison (Jimmy Nicholas), the well-muscled, handsome, pool boy from the club.  What rich Dad could possibly be unhappy with that?  Can anyone say gigolo?

Dotty is a bookish spinster in her late 30s. She always dresses in black. Dotty is her father’s main caregiver, housekeeper, and servant.  Other times, Dotty buries herself in mystery novels and her Mystery Book Club.

Actually meeting an established author is a big deal.  Dotty has invited her Mystery Book Club friend Shirley to meet Mr. Whittington.

Shirley Peck (Sally Strothers) is the widowed wife of a famous police detective and Mother to less famous Junior Detective Paul Peck (Tony Roach).  Paul will pick up Mom later in the evening.

Can anyone say STOCK characters?

Mr. Whitington has a relationship with the Colonel.  He has been invited to the mansion in hopes the surroundings might overcome his writer’s block.

The daughters believe they will jointly inherit their father’s millions.  

Whitington declaims he and the Colonel have been chatting. Colonel Claythorne has rewritten his will.  Whittington has agreed to file the notarized document with the Colonel’s attorney. 

One daughter has been written out of the will.  But which one? Or has the writer just thrown out a gambit as a starting place for his new novel?

Hmmm… Someone must die! Who? Can Whitington be stopped from filing the new will? Who will be the murderer? Could it be the gigolo/pool boy/ fiancé?  One of the daughters?  Whitington?  Is the motive LOVE, MONEY, LOATHING, or perhaps JEALOUSY?

The storm has knocked out telephone service and made the long driveway impassable until the storm rolls out.  All our characters seem to be locked in for the night.

Whittington shoos everyone out of the great hall so he can get to work.  But someone has spiked his cocktail and he appears to die in a comedy death scene that seems to take forever.

Hmmm…. I’ve shared the setup and the participants.  Anything more would ruin the mystery surprise. The laughs and the solution are up to you when you see the show.

Sally Strothers is a joy.  The play was written with her in mind.  Sally has a wonderful sense of comic timing.  Her one-liner delivery is flawless.

I’ve seldom heard stronger audience reaction to a comedy.  

Those who recall “All In The Family” will remember Jean Stapleton’s Edith Bunker.  She was the smartest and funniest family member while always playing the dumb bunny. Listen closely to Sally and you may hear an echo of Edith in Sally’s endearing portrayal of Shirley Peck.

Far than being STOCK characters, New Theatre has hired some of Broadway’s best.  Dotty (Caitlin Kinnunen) is a Tony nominee for “The Prom.” Mr. Whittington (Kevin Ligon) has appeared on Broadway in New York, New York; Hello Dolly; Bullets Over Broadway; Phantom of the Opera; and more plus dozens of regional and touring companies. Det. Paul Peck (Tony Roach) has appeared on Broadway in The Cottage; Flying Over Sunset; and more plus Off-Broadway, Regional and touring credits. Clarice (Marina Shay) has just closed a one woman show as Jacquelin Kennedy at Seven Angels Theater. Jasper (Jimmy Nicholas) is a TV and stage actor best known as Ambulance Chief Evan Hawkins on Chicago Fire.

Director Larry Raben has a history with Joe DiPietro.  He has a national reputation and is also Artistic Director at the Welk Resort Theater in Escondido California.

Set Designer Robert Andrew Kovach’s Claythorne Manor House is appropriately spooky.

“An Old-Fashioned Family Murder” continues at New Theatre and Restaurant through November 17.  Tickets are available online at www.newtheatre.com or by telephone at 913.649.7469.    

Photos courtesy of the New Theatre & Restaurant and Savage Public Relations.

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