ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 9, 1996 TAG: 9611120027
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: THEATER REVIEW
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
If you like your murder mysteries peppy, irreverent and even downright silly, you'll love Showtimers' current production, "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940,'' a sort of "Ten Little Indians" with a great big funny bone.
Set in a Westchester mansion on a snowy weekend, the story brings together a bunch of showbiz people, presumably auditioning for a prospective backer.
The backer, Elsa Von Grossenknueten (Linda Gonzalez), likes to "dabble" in theater and has plenty of money to support her hobby. So she invites a songwriting team (Michael Galvin and Barbara Burnett), a director (Michael Mansfield), a singer-dancer (Jenefer Davies), a comic (Chris Sheets), an actor (Dale Johnson) and a producer (Sharon Capps) to her home to give her a taste of the future show.
Or so it would seem.
What she and her guests get is an evening of intrigue, intended to snare The Stagedoor Slasher - the culprit in three showgirls' murders. And as if that weren't enough, there is a Gestapo agent in the house. Maybe. And homicidal triplets, one of whom, Helsa (the very funny Karen Dianne More), has been posing as Mrs. Von Grossenknueten's maid. Maybe.
It's the kind of play that doesn't worry much about excessive convolutions in plot. Its chief concern is whether or not it elicits laughs - and that, it certainly does.
Mansfield, always good, comes up with a very peculiar drawl for Hollywood director Ken De La Maize, who has an encyclopedic memory for the names of anyone who has ever been in any of his films - none of which ever seems to make it into theaters.
Burnett, a whiz with a funny line, steals scenes with her oblivious, tippling Bernice Roth. Here's a creative genius who apparently receives stimulation from homicide, especially if it's close at hand.
In the play's best scene by far, Bernice thinks the producer, Marjorie, just doesn't like the number the cast has sung. They wait as Marjorie sits slumped in her chair, expressionless. De La Maize peers quizzically into Marjorie's face. Still, nothing. Bernice promises to work on the number. No reaction.
Some audiences are just plain dead, you might say.
Director Jeff Walker does a nice job of keeping things moving, for the most part, although the production has its sluggish moments. Luckily, Davies and Sheets - particularly in their scenes together - keep things snappy. Davies is a wonderful, natural actress, currently one of Showtimers' best.
It's a good little play with a couple of great comic moments, the kind that serve as a reminder of just how delightful community theater can be.
"The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940'' runs from tonight through Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $8 through Showtimers' Studio, 774-2660.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB