Review: Shenandoah's 'Curtains' is lively but long

View larger image Carl Danielsen is on top of the world — actually a suspended prop — in “Curtains” at the Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre. Courtesy photo Review “Curtains” By John Kander, Fred Ebb Directed by Hal Herman Continuing at the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre until July 3. Box office phone number: 665-4569 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

WINCHESTER -- "Curtains" lives up to its billing as a "musical comedy whodunit."
The Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre's lively, lavish production, directed by Hal Herman, puts the best face on this ambitious theatrical spoof. But the mystery and comedy overshadow the music and, given the sprawling plot, some will wish "Curtains" were shorter.

This final collaboration of John Kander and Fred Ebb, the team behind "Cabaret" and "Chicago," hatches a murder on the set of a lame Broadway-bound musical. Enter Frank Cioffi, a detective who is also a musical comedy aficionado and thus as interested in salvaging the show as solving the crime.

That premise permits Kander, Ebb and Rupert Holmes, who wrote the clever book, to simultaneously mock several artistic genres as well as tossing in references to specific movies and stage shows.

The putative musical, "Robbin' Hood," a Wild West shoot-'em-up with touches of "Oklahoma!," offers ripe opportunities for broad, campy comedy and features exuberant ensembles complemented by Matthew Gose's frisky choreography. The music for the show-within-a-show is purposely lame, but, unfortunately, the rest of the score is forgettable.

Mystery is the meat of "Curtains," though. The death of the talent-deprived diva makes suspects of the 30 or so people attached to the show, prompting a painstaking probe of the crime -- and a few others that pop up along the convoluted way. This exercise, reminiscent of Agatha Christie or Jessica Fletcher, is lightened by the snappy comic dialogue and oddball happenings.

Carl Danielsen's Cioffi is no hard-bitten cop. Rather his street smarts are hidden under an unfailingly pleasant, disarming veneer. His ample dancing talents are underused in the role although he and Abbey Austin, the demure cast member he bonds with, are allowed to evoke Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in one glittering number.

The capable cast features Robin Higginbotham as half of a song-writing team thrust into the spotlight in a love triangle with Jake Emmerling, her one-time partner, and Nate Golden his choreographer rival.

Dolly Stevens is the brassy producer, Lauren Monteleone her put-upon daughter and James Laster the witty, self-important director. Karen Keating, usually an orchestra conductor at the theater, ascends from the pit to make her brief on-stage debut as the offed diva.

Wm. McConnell Bozman supplies stunning sets and William Pierson effective lighting. Cheryl Yancey's Western-themed costumes are a highlight.

"Curtains" continues at the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre through July 3. The box office phone number is 665-4569.