The Mystery of Edwin Drood will make its first-ever return to Broadway since winning the Tony "Triple Crown" (Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score). Who killed Edwin Drood? It's a question that has stumped audiences for years-now it's your turn to answer one of Broadway's most baffling mysteries. Take a trip back in time to a Victorian music hall where a rowdy ensemble of actors mounts a staging of Charles Dickens' unfinished novel. Everyone on stage is a suspect in the murder of young Edwin Drood-and it's up to you to choose the killer! Is it John Jasper, Edwin's protective but slightly maniacal uncle? Rosa Bud, his reluctant betrothed? The debauched Princess Puffer? Each performance ends differently, depending on what the audience decides!
'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' ran for 608 performances. Now the Roundabout Theatre Company has brought 'Drood' back to Broadway in a revival directed with rip-roaring éclat by Scott Ellis, and I'll be surprised if it doesn't run at least as long as the original 1985 production. For sheer fun, this show is hard to top.
Edwin Drood's chief claim to fame is Holmes' clever script, particularly his ingenious means of handling the fact that Dickens never wrote the material for the final act. So Holmes simply stops the show, mid-song, and throws crucial questions — including the identity of whodunit — to the audience to decide by democratic vote. As a result, the cast must prepare multiple versions of the ending, with different lyrics and lines dusted off depending on the outcome of the polling. And there's visible delight on stage when theatergoers make less conventional, Herman Cain-like choices. But as Rivera and her top-vote-getting love interest struggled to stay in character through their melodic seduction — clearly this was a new pairing for the cast — it struck me that the obvious joy of the performers on stage was not always translating across the proscenium. Suspiciously, I have to wonder if this is one entertainment that is just more fun to perform than to watch. B
1985 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
1985 | Broadway |
Broadway Transfer Broadway |
1987 | West End |
London Production West End |
2012 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Company Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Jim Norton |
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Stephanie J. Block |
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Andy Karl |
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Jessie Mueller |
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical or Revue | 0 |
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Set Design | Anna Louizos |
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Tony Meola |
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jim Norton |
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Chita Rivera |
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | 0 |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) | William Ivey Long |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Will Chase |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | 0 |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Scott Ellis |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Will Chase |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Stephanie J. Block |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | The Mystery of Edwin Drood |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Roundabout Theatre Company |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Todd Haimes |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Harold Wolpert |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Julia C. Levy |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Anna Louizos |
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