Murder for Two

Go see this! The Hayes Theatre Company production of Murder for Two is clever, witty, elegant, sophisticated, laugh-out-loud brilliant! My face hurt from laughing too much. 

The musical both lampoons and pays homage to many tropes of stage musicals and whodunits.

From Agatha Christie to Abbot and Costello to old-school book musicals, this genre mash-up gives us a display of virtuoso talent from the too-talented-for-their-own-good Gabbi Bolt and Maverick Newman. 

A la Christie's The Mousetrap, a group of suspects are held in a stately mansion while a murder is committed then solved. 

A small group of friends and family are at the isolated mansion of famed American novelist Arthur Whitney. They gather there for his surprise birthday party organised by his Southern Belle wife (who is not unlike Blanche Devereaux from the Golden Girls). The surprise turns out to be that birthday boy ends up dead. 

Enter police officers Lou and Marcus. The show proceeds like any murder mystery, if your murder-mysteries have fun musical numbers that advance the plot while also revealing character and motive. 

Officer Marcus has a personal stake in this: the real detective has been delayed by the snow storm, so  Marcus now has a chance to get a promotion if he can solve the murder. As we discover, everyone in the room had a motive to kill Whitney. The evening zings along with confessions, dance numbers, and red herrings galore until the killer is revealed. The parodies of Fosse, 80s disco, and ballet had the audience in stitches, and is testimony to the genius of choreographer Shannon Burns. Director Richard Carroll's sharp and astute direction knows when to let the silliness reign and when to let the characterisation breathe.  

Although the show has two cops, six suspects, a 12-member boys' choir (a tribute to the Little Rascals), and a cameo by a closeted Christian fireman (don't ask), the whole thing is performed by only two persons.  

And are these actors even human? The quadruple threat of acting, singing, dancing, and pianising (yes I just made that up) displayed by these two is a feat to behold. 

Maverick Newman, who has the name of a suave action hero, plays all of the suspects, and boys' choir, and cameo. He manages the transitions between characters effortlessly, not only in body language but also in voice and attitude. He's totally believable in each character he inhabits, and has all the physical comedy to handle.

Just as talented and capable is the equally impressive and also cool action-hero named Gabbi Bolt, who only plays officer Marcus. Although playing straight man to Newman's OTT slapstick, Bolt brings the pathos and focus the show needs to keep it from being derailed, and is the perfect yin to Newman's yang. 

Throughout the show the magic these two created had me feeling and believing there were always more than two persons in the room. 

The piano-only score is clever but pleasant, full of conversational-style songs that serve the clever lyrics. Both Newman and Bolt sing perfectly in character, maintaining their numerous American accents during some tricky changes. Such are the demands of the characters that for the most part our two action heroes sing in that "pinched" style in order to maintain accent. It's only during the show's big ballad "He Needs a Partner" that the score allows the cast to expand vocally and we can hear their lovely resonance and tone.

The script takes full advantage of mocking itself by exploiting the fact there are only two people on stage playing multiple characters, filled with theatre in-jokes, meta quotes, and vaudeville-style sound effects. My heart went out to that poor cat. The chance to improv was not lost, especially when dealing with a set of handcuffs that wouldn't behave. And the best line of the show goes to the character who had to explain a big fat obvious continuity error. 

The promo pic shows the cast in drag, however they don't perform in drag. I think that's a good thing, as being in drag would have distracted and detracted from the performances. And Keerthi Subramanyam's costuming is clever enough to allow the actors to inhabit their characters without the need to be in drag when playing their opposite gender. 

If there was a fault in this delectable production it would perhaps be in the script itself: just like the similarly styled The Drowsy Chaperone, unless you're familiar with the tropes and types being riffed on, then the humour may not land for you. Despite that, you'd still be entertained by the shenanigans and brilliant delivery of this cast. This show reminds us that the most dazzling effects in live theatre come from the performers. 

For too long I've been reading Sydney musical fans decry how no company ever puts on something different; how we're stuck with blockbuster re-treads. Sydney seems to be bucking that trend, recently offering us musicals about mad Martian rabbits, a Swan Lake with cows, a real-life bushranger who's not Ned Kelly, and this little gem. Please don't complain about lack of choice. 

The real crime here is that the season is too short.

Peter Novakovich

Photographer: Phil Erbacher