Review: DIAL 'M' FOR MURDER at St. Louis Repertory Co.

This one’s a “must see”! 

Dial ‘M’ for Murder opened at the St. Louis Rep, and it was an out-and-out triumph.  It is surely one of the most perfect productions I’ve seen there in some years.  It was a happily full house.  There was an air of real excitement, and at intermission the lobby was overwhelmed with the buzz of enthusiastically chatting theater-lovers.

The show, by Frederick Knott, premiered in London in 1952, then went to Broadway later that year.  The classic Hitchcock film (with Ray Milland and Grace Kelly) came out in ‘54.  Since then it’s had various incarnations around the world on TV and in copy-cat films.  This plot has legs!         

I saw Hitchcock’s film in ’54, but over the decades I’d forgotten what a superbly crafted piece of work that script is.  It’s like a fine Swiss watch.  (The playwright also wrote the screen-play.) 

It’s a murder mystery—but the question is not “Whodunnit?” but “Will he get away with it?”  It’s set in a high-toned London flat in the ‘50’s.  Tony, a just-retired tennis champion, plots to kill his wife, Margot, because she’s been having an affair with Max, an American crime-fiction writer.  To divorce her would leave him penniless, as she’s the one with money.  Tony has devised the “perfect crime”.  He will blackmail an old college acquaintance into doing the killing for him.

But (as Bobby Burns oh, so truly said) “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley”.

It's a complex plot that keeps Tony and the shrewd Inspector Hubbard on their mental toes, feinting and parrying with deft imagination.  And the growing discomfiture of Tony is a delight to see.  If you were to read this plot it would be hard to follow, but on stage the action clarifies everything as clues are precisely placed—or removed—or discovered.  It all becomes lucid.

The cast is led by Jordan Coughtry as Tony.  His performance is from the Realm of Ideal Forms.  It is that perfect!  He’s physically graceful and precise, his accent is flawless, and his sharp sense of comedy and timing is largely responsible for the many laughs this production surprisingly finds in the script.

Coughtry is strongly supported by Jenelle Chu as Margot, and Jason Heil as her lover Max.  Ms. Chu seems born to wear that chic red dress, and she shows a lovely vulnerability when her world crashes down.  Mr. Heil brings bright charm and energy to the character and, later in the evening, shows dogged determination in pursuing justice.  In their opening scene together, though, there seemed little chemistry or history between these lovers.  Max seems, at that point, to be one of those “always on stage” fellows—a style one might expect at the beginning of an affair rather than at the end. 

Dwayne Weynand plays the old college acquaintance who is being forced into the crime.  Solidly, most believably, he conveys the anger and frustration of this helpless petty criminal.

Inspector Hubbard is played by the reliably fine Eric Dean White.  Calmly, deliberately he investigates.  Under that rather bland demeanor we are aware of a razor-sharp mind that quickly takes in every tiny detail.  And in the end of course, just in the nick of time, Inspector Hubbard ensures that justice is done.

And we all go home happy!

The show is most properly kept in the 1950’s—back when one could “dial” ‘M’.  The set by Margery and Peter Spack is right up there with their best—and that’s a high bar.  It is carefully period-correct in every detail.

Costumes, by Ruby Kemph, are most attractive and appropriate.

Minjoo Kim designed the lighting, which was wonderfully moody and carefully detailed—always showing just enough to sustain the mystery and our keen interest.

And the sound!  Amanda Werre designed a sound plot that is full of the most gorgeous classy, moody slow jazz I ever heard.  And all proper to the period.  That “Stella by Starlight” is to die for! 

The sound system is handled so artfully.  The actors’ every syllable is crystal-clear and, in the excellent acoustics of the hall, that jazz is richer and more “present” than you could ever imagine.

Director Melissa Rain Anderson has put together a very nearly perfect show.   The pace is tight, the movement and timing are deft and precise.  It’s quite gripping.

Ms. Anderson is a keeper.  She also directed for the Rep:

• The Play That Goes Wrong (a much less admirable script but an enormous challenge for a director), and
• The Wolves (a much smaller show but one requiring superb timing and deeply realistic acting). 

Dial ‘M’ for Murder is an immensely satisfying production.  It won’t probe into your soul,   it explores no metaphysical profundities, it’s blessedly apolitical—but it will keenly engage your mind.  And it displays all aspects of theatrical art at their very best.

You will go home happy and content!

The Rep appears to be rising Sphinx-like from its own ashes.  Let’s face it, over the past few years it has seen a plunge in subscribership and the loss of many talented staff-members.  In their new Artistic Director, Kate Bergstrom, they seem to have found a leader who reads her audience well and who has no agenda other than to create the finest of theater.

(Photos by Jon Gitchoff)

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