A fantastic night of musical theatre doesn’t always call for million-dollar sets, a huge cast, expansive chorus lines of high-kicking dancers and fireworks. Sometimes, you just need two ridiculously talented performers, a grand piano, and a mystery to solve.
Enter Murder For Two – aka, the very definition of a rip-roaring rollicking ride (and a couple of Australia’s most exciting up-and-coming musical comedy stars both have their hands on the wheel). A maverick by name and by nature, Maverick Newman (The Comedy of Errors, Friends! The Musical Parody) deftly darts between playing 12 different and equally eccentric suspects as Gabbi Bolt’s small-town police officer, Marcus Moscowicz, attempts to solve the case.
...this playful show rides the thin line between clever and silly at a thrilling, dangerous speed
Who shot and fatally killed the great American novelist Arthur Whitney – at his surprise birthday party, no less? The body is still warm, the guests are all in shock, and the nearest detective is an hour away. Moscowicz has big dreams of making it to detective, and this is his big chance to prove his sleuthing skills, with the help of his silent partner, Lou.
More than in any other show, a two-hander like this demands a lot from its performers – who are also tasked with playing the score on piano as they act and sing. Bringing Newman and Bolt together on this was a stroke of evil brilliance. Like a chocolate stolen from a child, Murder for Two is an absolute treat with a sinister edge.
Newman is relentlessly entertaining, careening seamlessly between playing an elderly psychologist, a trio of Boy Scouts and, amongst others, the victim’s wife, a scene-stealing former dancer who is all too eagerly lapping up her status as a widow. (The stamina, it is impressive.) Meanwhile, Bolt holds her own in her musical theatre stage debut, bringing the hat trick of comic timing, ripper ballads and earnestness that has earned her acclaim at comedy festivals and in her viral video sketches.
Under the direction of Hayes Theatre Co’s co-artistic director Richard Carroll (Calamity Jane, Once, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Murder for Two matches the actors’ pace for a non-stop 90 minutes, never out-staying its welcome. Choreography from Shannon Burns (Carmen on Cockatoo Island, La Traviata on Sydney Harbour) fills the theatre’s modestly sized stage with a flurry of movement as the actors dart, dance and twirl around one another. Keerthi Subramanyam’s set design (DTC’s Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner) places the action in Whitney’s isolated mansion, framing the scene with shelves of leather-bound books that hide clues and surprises.
With book and lyrics by Kellen Blair and book and music by Joe Kinosian, Murder for Two debuted on the American stage in 2011. Borrowing from Agatha Christie’s old-school murder mysteries and riffing on our enduring fascination with the “whodunnit?”, it doesn’t necessarily have anything new to say, and it doesn’t necessarily have to. With an occasionally overpowering shot of melodrama, this playful show rides the thin line between clever and silly at a thrilling, dangerous speed – it feels like riding a bicycle while you might be a little too drunk to do so.
Murder for Two is the perfect pick for the intimacy of the Hayes’ 110-seat theatre, and it's an excellent vehicle for the talents of Maverick Newman and Gabbi Bolt. The greatest pleasure of this show is witnessing these two marvellous miscreants playing together, they’re like a pair of excitable puppies with a knack for playing the piano. For that alone, it's worth the price of admission.