Curtains (book by Rupert Holmes, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, original book and concept by Peter Stone, additional music by John Kander and Rupert Holmes) is an old-fashioned backstage musical comedy one can't help but love.
Set in a Boston theatre in 1959 during a pre-Broadway tryout of the musical Robbin' Hood (think Robin Hood transferred to the Old West,), the much-despised leading lady Jessica Cranshaw (Patty Goble) is murdered during a performance. Onto the scene bounds police Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (David Hyde Pierce), an unabashed lover of the stage.
Things get even more complicated when one of the producers, (Ernie Sabella), who was blackmailing almost everybody in the production, also turns up dead.
Cioffi has no shortage of suspects. There's the insufferable director (a deliciously smarmy Edward Hibbert—and a master at comic timing); the brassy producer (Debra Monk) and widow of the afore-mentioned deceased blackmailer; and the former husband and wife songwriting team (Jason Danieley, Karen Ziemba) and her new boyfriend (Noah Racey).
There's also the beautiful understudy (Jill Paice) who keeps finding the most incriminating evidence. As for the detective, when not trying to solve the case, he's coming up with ideas on how to turn the so-so show into a sure-fire smash.
The work introduces so many characters so quickly, it takes a few minutes to find its proper pacing but once it does, it makes for an enjoyable ride (though musical theatre lovers will probably get the most out of the story). The score, while not one of Kander and Ebb's best, works nicely, as does the direction by Scott Ellis.
There are also a couple of numbers from the Robbin' Hood section which could have been trimmed and are there chiefly to show off the costumes and give Cioffi something more to do.
The cast is excellent, with the always-wonderful Ziemba as a former actress turned songwriter lured back onto the stage; Danieley as the pining ex-husband who still carries a torch for her; and the scenery-chewing Hibbert and Monk, the latter who stops the show with the number "It's a Business." Although overshadowed by the more showy roles, Pierce nicely underplays his part with a combination dogged determination, shyness, and a regular guy thrust into a world he would kill to be a part of.
This is not high-concept theatre, but Curtains accomplishes its basic purpose, which is to give the audience a good time, with some chuckles, funny situations, and some amazing performances along the way.
Also in the cast are Jim Newman, Megan Sikora, Michael X. Martin, Michael McCormick, Mary Ann Lamb, Matt Farnsworth, Darcie Roberts, Kevin Bernard, John Bolton, David Loud, Paula Leggett Chase, Nili Bassman, Ward Billeisen, Jennifer Dunne, Brittany Marcin, Joe Aaron Reid, and Christopher Spaulding.
Curtains
Al Hirschfeld Theatre
302 West 45th Street
Tickets: 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com
Open run
Judd Hollander is the New York correspondent for the London publication THE STAGE.
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