After months of preparation, TAS Musical Theatre — the Musical Theatre Program at Peterborough’s Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School — opens its highly anticipated production of Curtains tonight (May 31). Directed by Sarah Tye, Curtains is both a musical comedy and a murder mystery that cleverly spoofs itself every step of the way.
Ironically, the background of Curtains has nearly the same body count as the play itself. The play was first developed by mystery writer Phillip Stone, whose films Charade and Mirage were some of the best mystery films of the 1960s. Before he could finish the book, Stone died and Rupert Holmes was hired to finish and rewrite it.
The successful Broadway songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb — who had hits with Cabaret, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman — were brought in to write the music for the show. Before they could complete all the music, Fred Ebb also died, which saw Holmes stepping in to do double duty working on the book and music.
While still in production, the show’s orchestrator Michael Gibson also died. However, despite all of losses, Curtains opened at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles in 2006 starring David Hyde Price in the lead role of Lieutenant Frank Cioffi. Despite mixed reviews, the production moved to Broadway in March of 2017 where it was nominated for eight Tony Awards, with Price winning the award for Best Performance by a Lead Actor.
Curtains is a big show that has a number of different layers, a large cast of characters, and multiple sub-plots running through it. Situated in the fictional Colonial Theater in Boston in 1959, Curtains revolves around the cast and crew of a brand new musical titled “Robbin’ Hood”, a western version of the classic story. However, on the show’s opening night its star, Jessica Cranshaw (Keeley Wilson), drops dead right after the curtain call.
The next morning it is revealed that there have been two murders in the night: Jessica Cranshaw, whose death is deemed suspicious, and the play itself, which has gotten terrible reviews.
Enter Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (Parker Slaunwhite), who is not only a crackerjack detective, but also a Broadway enthusiast who dreams of being on the stage himself. With a theatre full of suspects, Cioffi confines the entire company to the venue while he investigates the murder.
As the company tries to rework the play with new leading lady Georgia Hendricks (Jayde Taylor), Cioffi discovers that nearly the entire company had reasons to want to bump off Jessica Cranshaw. Now, with the company trying to save their show and the body count continuing to rise, Cioffi finds himself searching for a killer, reworking a musical flop, and falling in love.
While visiting the set of Curtains a week before its opening, I was struck by how big this production was. Sarah Tye’s students are not only talented but extremely professional, and it shows in the largeness of this production. Each of the actors on the stage also doubles as crew, be it for set construction, costuming, props, corpse handler, and other various stage duties.
But this isn’t normal high school theatre. The professionalism and quality of this show go far beyond normal expectations. The TASS students went big on this one and it shows in every moment.
The production has a huge cast of 29 students, and a lot of colourful characters with their own sub-plots who make up the world of Curtains. Each of the students involved in the show brings something to the stage, creating a vivid world of intrigue, music. and comedy.
However, the show firmly sits on the shoulders of Parker Slaunwhite in the role of Lieutenant Frank Cioffi. In his stage debut, Parker tackles the role with great zeal, creating a character that is more theatre nerd than hardboiled detective, but still has the skills to get his job done.
Sometimes it seems that Cioffi is more interested in the backstage drama of the show rather than catching a killer, which adds to the show’s comedy. Parker creates a really great character and instantly becomes an audience favourite.
Parker also has endearing stage chemistry with Lindsay Rudkins, who plays actress Niki Harris. Admitting he is a fan in their first meeting, Cioffi and Niki make up one of the shows romantic sub-plots.
Although it isn’t the biggest musical number of the show, Parker and Lindsay’s second act performance of “A Tough Act to Follow” is possibly the most enchanting number in the show. A real Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire moment, their performance together just made me melt, and Lindsay’s funny little dance made me smile so wide my face hurt.
Maggie Grant gives another outstanding performance as hardened co-producer Carmen Bernstein. It’s an interesting performance that I would describe as being “brash”. Playing a woman who hates her explosive husband Sidney Bernstein (Vasco Silva) and is constantly dashing the theatrical dreams of her daughter Bambi (Chelsey Elle-Carberry), Carmen is a woman who seems to have her own motives to keep the show alive. Maggie plays her with a sense of strength and has a huge presence while on the stage.
Furthermore, Maggie gives a number of commanding musical performances with “Show People” and “It’s a Business”. Her singing is as unique as her character, with a largeness that sits somewhere between Ethel Merman and Liza Minelli. I absolutely loved watching Maggie and I hope I see her on the stage again soon.
In another important subplot to the show, Curtains introduces the songwriting team of Aaron Fox (Tyler Evans-Knott) and Georgia Hendricks (Jayde Taylor), a divorced couple who are reunited to write the music for “Robbin’ Hood”. While Georgia has moved on to a romance with “Robbin’ Hood’s” star Bobby Pepper (Simon Mazziotti) and is talked into taking over the lead after Jessica Cranshaw’s murder, Aaron pines over his ex-wife and the relationship he lost.
Beyond playing these colourful characters, Tyler and Jayde bring to the stage some of the biggest musical numbers of the show. Jayde has her biggest moment with “What Kind of Man”, and shines in the show’s biggest production number “Thataway”.
But Aaron brings down the house with his solo “I Miss the Music”. With a huge voice and an emotional delivery, Aaron comes out of nowhere with a performance I didn’t expect, leaving me utterly speechless, making his solo the de facto musical moment of the show.
With such a large cast, Curtains is full of colourful characters brought to life by an extremely talented company.
In outstanding character roles are Will Tedford as larger-than-life director Christopher Belling, Vason Silva as explosive co-producer Sidney Bernstein, Chelsey Ette-Carberry as ambitious dancer Bambi Bernet, Brenan Bailey as despised theatre critic Daryl Grady, and Olivia Smith as secretive stage manager Jenny Harmon. Each of them has a reason to kill. Could one of them be the killer?
I also want to give a shout out to Keely Wilson for her performance as Jessica Cranshaw. As the first murder victim of the show, Keely gets killed off pretty quickly, but not before giving a “terrible” performance — proving that sometimes to be so bad, you need to be at the top of your game.
Another shout out to Simon Mazziotti who, while playing double duty as Bobby Pepper, choreographed the show. The large production numbers are fantastic and inventive, with Simon giving certain degrees of dancing to cast members based upon their individual strengths.
The dance highlights go to Simon and Chelsey Elle-Carberry who are just delicious together. I absolutely love watching them dance. Simon has a big future in dance ahead of him.
I also want to make mention of the full orchestra in the show, which not made up on TASS students but volunteer musicians from the community. Directed by Ben Jackson and Justin Hiscox, the orchestra creates a big sound for the production, adding to the theatrical experience. It was fantastic seeing these experienced musicians supporting a student production.
Finally, one of the most eye-popping elements of Curtains are the wonderful costumes worn by the cast. In all, the 29 students have approximately 130 different costumes. With western gear for “Robbin’ Hood”, and 1950s-era clothing for backstage scenes, the cast looks fantastic in their vintage outfits.
Costumes were provided by a number of local theatre companies, including The Peterborough Theatre Guild and 4th Line Theatre, as well as created by the TASS sewing class. Curtains is a huge costume drama and everybody looks fantastic.
There is no denying that Curtains is a big show. Sarah Tye is an amazing director who knows how to keep young performers engaged and dedicated, and is able to push them to their best. Together with her company, she has made Curtains one of the musical highlights of the theatrical season.
This is a production that everybody involved in should be extremely proud of, and it raises the bar in regards to student productions. High school musicals definitely were not as good as this when I was in school.
Curtains runs from May 31 to June 2nd in the TASS Theatre. Public performances begin at 7 p.m. and tickets are $12 for students and $15 for adults.
