Review: Seams show in Twain adaptation

View larger image From left, Katherine Yacko, Bob Payne and Aaron Mann appear in Wayside Theatre’s production of Mark Twain’s “A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage.” Courtesy photo Recommend This Print This Get E-mail News Alerts Buy Photos/Page Reprints * Breaking News If local news is breaking and you know about it: * Call Us: 800-296-5137 * E-mail Us * Upload Your Photos

By John Horan Jr. - jhoran@nvdaily.com

MIDDLETOWN -- Following the scintillating, modern musical "Striking 12," Wayside Theatre does a 180 with "A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage."

Based on a Mark Twain short story, the show is an old-fashioned, down-home musical, replete with banjo, fiddle and string bass.

Sparkling it's not, but it is good-humored and energetic. Devotees of bluegrass music will find the show a pleasant diversion. Twain fans, though, may be more intrigued at how this long-forgotten yarn fits into the canon of America's seminal writer and humorist.

The production, directed by Warner Crocker, is a time machine, evoking the mid-America, mid-19th century society Twain grew up in and used for his most famous tales. Subtlety banished, the characterizations are straightforward, even outsized.

Despite the period feel -- hissing the villain would not be out of place -- "A Murder ..." is a clunky piece. The plot, a love triangle with a killing, is formulaic. The seams show and one key element (a tempting inheritance) gets jettisoned along the way. The humor is broad and sometimes labored.

Although those flaws might be attributed to Aaron Posner, who wrote the musical's book and lyrics, the original story must not have been among Twain's best or it would not have gone unpublished until 2001.

The show relies on the dexterous banjoist Bob Payne as the affable narrator who steps in and out of the story.

Aaron Mann and Katherine Yacko are appealing as the young lovers although she overdoes the twang in her songs.

William Diggle and Thomasin Savaiano are her long-suffering parents. Steve Przybylski is the dour rich uncle and Eddie Staver III the flamboyant mysterious stranger.

James Suggs' music is a forgettable hodgepodge.

The set, by Til Turner, frames the stage with panels and includes a jail cell and a gallows. Wes Calkin supplies appropriate lighting and Tamara M. Carruthers the period costumes.

"A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage" continues through Nov. 6. The box office phone number is 869-1776.