Murder, Mystery, and Monochrome Magic at Hale Centre Theatre

SANDY  —  Hale Centre Theatre. A venue with all the glitz and glitter of Hollywood’s golden age. You know the place. The type of theatre company that’s willing to take a big creative risk in a town that loves their arts the way they like their cars. Clean, fun, fast and with a little pizzazz. As I walked across the rain slicked pavement to the venue, I knew there was trouble afoot. Headlines for the show said the maid is already dead, and another wasn’t going to make it to intermission. Things were looking grim. It’s under this heavily film noir influenced style that I write my review of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 by John Bishop performed at Sandy’s premiere performance space. I might be a theatrical gumshoe, but there’s no mystery here; HCT absolutely killed it with this show.

Highly stylized shows don’t always work. Just because you can design Hamlet to be set at a 1980s rave doesn’t mean the text and performances will support it. This show, however, tackled an iconic visual style — film noir —  and the story and performances were beautifully interwoven with the design to make a show that just worked. From top to bottom, start to finish the show was a delight to look at and watch. Not all plays make me wonder “how did they do that?” but this show was loaded with that question in some wonderful ways. At the top, the scenic design from Jenn Taylor utilizes forced perspective in flat construction and intricate gray scale painting to make it feel like the audience is looking into a CRT television as the drama of the farce unfolds. With its many hidden doors and exquisite design, the show’s set was one of the best I’ve ever seen. 

Likewise, praise goes to other visual technical elements. Marnee’ Porter’s black and white designs for the actors belied hair color and makeup technique at the highest level to keep the people looking like they belong in the world. Costumes by Joy Zhu blended textures and patterns that made characters distinct within the colorless palette and Marianne Ohran worked miracles utilizing light that drew focus, shifted mood and time, and still bathed everything in a colorless glow. 

The one stand out to this design was the character of the Author, who was dressed in red and khaki, and served a mix of omniscient narrator, radio host, and butt of many jokes about the quality of the writing in the text. His distinction in design helped the audience connect with his severance from the world of the play even as he intermingled. It was really lovely work. 

Unlike Clue which I reviewed at HCT in 2024, this text wasn’t as well known to the audience. With a well known text, audiences are primed to laugh and react in the right moments like watching a favorite film. This took time to build audience engagement, but not for a lack of great work from the cast. While the actors were crisp in their joke deliveries from the jump, there was a noticeable pick up of the audience really getting the humor and style as the show went on. By the end there were standing ovations, and laughter at the low brow physical farce bits as well as the punchy pop culture and witty banter moments. Director Ryan Simmons did a great job bringing together design and performance cohesion to produce a great show. 

Claire Kenny was delightful to watch from the start as Elsa Von Grossenknueten in the role of the hostess. She was part aloof party host and added a humorous dash of the femme fatale role in the early scenes to give the mood of the story right away. She was countered well by David Marsden in the role of Sargeant Michael Kelly. He gave off all the cynical airs of a cop who was tired of being on the case, and their chemistry in scenes was delightful. 

The romantic pairing of Nikki Crandall (Elise Pearce) and Eddie McCuen (Ben Parkes) had strong chemistry from the get go. Pearce showed off the star struck side of the chorus girl Nikki in the early part of the play, but took on a more solid form as her character evolved through the action. Parkes was as aloof as he was likeable in the part of the comic Eddie, and the two played off one another in a way that was perfect for the era the play is written in. Zoe Wilde was “simply devoone” in the role of Marjorie Baverstock and her smile at the end of act two looked as if it would be there the rest of her life. She really got her point across in the end and Wilde was hilarious to watch without becoming grating. 

The musical duo of the dandy impressario Roger Hopewell (played by Trenton J. Krummenacher) and the prima donna lyricist Bernice Roth (played by Julie Suazo). Both were charming in their over the top responses to the smallest things, but Suazo especially was hilarious. Her constant fight to get the inspiration she sought in the throes of chaos was fun to see and her fainting spells were dynamic 

Most of all, I came away impressed by The Author, played by Jacob Glenn Chapman. Chapman was able to seamlessly keep the tempo up offering author injunctions, stage directions, and a true world-war-II-era radio voice to deliver context and exposition in key moments. Chapman had to bounce between roles and was a constant reminder of the farcical and fun nature of the story. He tied together a cooky cast in wonderful ways and was deeply tied into the stakes of the show in wildly fun ways. In a world full of heavy things, the many escapes through sundry hidden doors made this a truly memorable night. 

Hale Center Theatre succeeded in pulling a lesser known rabbit out of the hat and producing a show that left me excited, entertained, and intrigued by the possibility of producing that script. As a lover of film noir and the highly stylized drama and comedy of this kind of show, I was thrilled from start to finish. Theatre lovers, light hearted mystery seekers, and audiences needing a good laugh of all ages will find that the stage has been well set in this comedic whodunit, and will be thrilled by the plays comedic twists, turns and discoveries. Fantastic work cast, crew, and all.

These reviews are made possible by a grant from the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks program.