From left: Edwin Drood (Lilia Reynolds), John Jasper (Geoff Johnson) and The Chairman (Jeannie Wheeldon) prepare for the production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” at the Durango Arts Center. (Jenny Fitts Reynolds/Durango Arts Center)
The audience decides the end of each performance
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a story that has been told many times and in many different ways. When Charles Dickens died on June 9, 1870, Drood, his last novel, was still unfinished. Only six of the twelve chapters had been written and published in the popular serial format. The story simply ended at the point where Drood disappears.
The mystery of what might have happened has inspired many storytellers since then: writers, playwrights, poets and journalists. Countless versions have appeared on stage, on television and in films. One of the most intriguing is a musical created by Rupert Holmes in the 1980s. The British-American musician was known at the time for his popular story-based songs, such as “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).” As a result, New York impresario Joseph Papp approached Holmes and asked him to consider a “Drood” musical. Intrigued by the mystery and having loved British pantomime theater since childhood, Holmes agreed. He created the award-winning 1985 musical, which you can see at the Durango Arts Center in August.
WHAT: The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a musical by Rupert Holmes, presented by Durango Arts Repertory Theatre, directed by Jenny Fitts Reynolds.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, August 16 – September 1; 2:00 p.m. on August 18, 25 and September 1.
WHERE: DAC, 802 East Second Ave.
TICKETS: General admission $25, students $15.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.durangoarts.org/theatre or call 259-2606.
To say that the musical Drood is a major undertaking would be an understatement. Not only is the work essentially a melodrama with music, it is also a play within a play. Holmes set his play in a Victorian music hall, with a troupe of travelling actors, all representing the Drood universe.
“It’s challenging on many levels,” said director Jenny Fitts Reynolds. “The actors all have to play dual roles and everyone has to learn seven different endings.”
This is the most unusual twist that Holmes added to his version of the basic story.
“Because of the many different possible endings, it keeps the cast and crew on their toes at every performance,” said Fitts Reynolds.
The character Edwin Drood is a young man, an orphan, who is engaged to his childhood sweetheart Rosa Bud, also an orphan. John Jasper, Drood’s uncle and guardian, is the village choirmaster. As only Dickens could construct a villain, Jasper is obsessed with Rosa Bud – and he is addicted to opium. Other Dickensian characters appear around the problematic love triangle: two other orphans, an opium dealer, a vicar, a mayor, a sexton and various followers.
Holmes, however, tells the story through the music hall players, who re-enact the mystery as if it were an old-fashioned British pantomime.
“On the surface, Drood is lighthearted and maybe a little silly, but beneath the jokes, the gags and the melodrama, it’s a show about making theatre,” said Fitts Reynolds.
A mistress of ceremonies (Jeannie Wheeldon, who also plays the role of the mayor) narrates. An actress plays Drood (Lilia Reynolds, who also plays Nutting), in the Victorian tradition of the “leading man.” John Jasper struggles with his various obsessions (Geoff Johnson, who also plays Paget).
Audience participation is encouraged – in the style of British panto music.
“The audience will vote on the ending,” Fitts Reynolds said. “That’s the hardest thing for the actors to do. The women have to learn seven different endings, the men three, so we have to be prepared for whatever the audience chooses.”
Holmes divides his musical into two parts to support Dickens’ unfinished story. Drood’s disappearance is announced, and everyone wonders what happened to him – and who could be responsible.
“The cast comes out into the audience,” Fitts Reynolds said. “Each actor works a section — by asking for a show of hands. Then we announce the results to our stage manager, Lori Fisher. She adds up the totals, and when we know what the audience has chosen, we perform that ending.”
“The script has exact details about the ending, so we’ve rehearsed them all,” she said. “But every night we just don’t know what we’re going to play.”
Does anyone call that “challenging”?
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
