Searching for clues and laughter

The Musical Comedy Murders of " 1940" is something of a misnomer.

Yes, it contains healthy portions of murders (three occur before the play even begins), and it's set in 1940.

While not a musical, it does contain a couple of musical numbers.

Unfortunately, it's not as comedic as one is led to expect from its name.

It has its moments, to be sure, but a viewer can't help but wish for more of them.

Many more.

The best comedies are the ones that make your stomach and face hurt from laughing so much, where you're literally weak from laughter.

But this is not that type of show.

The 10-person cast at the Sugden Community Theatre tries valiantly, but they're working with material that's not quite that sharp or sparkling.

The play by John Bishop enjoyed a brief run on Broadway. It's a spoof on the murder mysteries/noir films of the era: stock characters, endless plot twists, secret passages, secret identities and characters foolishly running toward danger they don't seem to recognize.

"The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940" contains all of the above, and lovingly pokes fun at them. The plot is much too convoluted to explain or even follow while watching it; after a while, I just gave up.

COURTESY PHOTO "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940" cast. Suffice it to say, the action takes place at the mansion of Elsa Von Grossenknueten (an exotic Carla Grieves), a rich woman who funds Broadway musicals. On one snowy December night in 1940, a group of theater people hoping for her financial backing come to her home to put on a show. But the event is actually a trap for the Stage Door Killer who previously killed three chorus girls.

You've seen this setup before, in various venues: former players are all brought together in hopes of flushing the killer. Everyone is suspect.

Of course there's a blizzard, and no one can leave.

Of course the phone lines go down, and no one can call for help.

Of course the lights go out at the most inopportune times.

The ensemble includes Ken (Jim Heffernan Jr.), an arrogant director; Eddie (Michael Zacchero), a Brooklyn comic hoping for his big break; Marjorie (Ann Lappin), an overly dramatic producer; Nikki (Laura Lorusso), a young dancer; and Patrick O'Reilly (Brad Goetz), an Irish tenor who claims to be from Ireland but speaks with a German accent.

Rounding out the theatrical group is the songwriting team of Roger (David Malloy), a composer who "borrows" liberally from other composers, and Bernice (Bree Cowan), the lyricist who drinks liberally.

In addition, Michael Troop plays a New York cop disguised as a chauffeur who helps Elsa set a trap for the killer. And Lucy Harris plays Elsa's maid, Helsa, in addition to other roles.

The show began with promise, with great physical humor: a disguised home invader kills someone and has difficulty hiding the corpse. The choreography of that scene is top-notch (as are the play's other fight scenes) as the killer has to invent some creative ways to move the (literally) dead weight.

But then Elsa entered the stage wearing a mink coat and carrying a large shovel, and no one in the audience laughed at the odd juxtaposition. It was maybe at that point that things began sliding slowly downhill for the show.

The sound was spotty. Either the actors weren't miked, or else the theater's amplification system failed. Some of the actors could project well in the small theater, but others (notably the females) could not. Also, a couple sitting nearby chose to comment on the action throughout the entire show, as if watching TV in their living room, drowning out many lines.

The actors all do a great job individually, but they don't always seem to gel as an ensemble, for some reason.

As the rich, exotic Elsa, Ms. Grieves slinks about the stage as if she owns it, and she and Mr. Troop hit their comedic high point when she gives a prepared speech to the others, thus setting the trap for the killer. But Elsa forgets the speech, and Mr. Troop, standing on the other side of the room, gestures wildly as Ms. Grieves attempts to decipher his clues. It's a game of charades that's left the tracks.

Ms. Harris is funny as the taciturn maid, and she and Mr. Goetz have a great scene together in Act II that drew the evening's most unrestrained laughter. (To go into more detail would give away the fun.) Mr. Malloy sparkles as the gay composer who tries to pass off Jerome Kern's "Old Man River" as his own. And as his lyricist, Ms. Cowan grows only funnier the drunker she becomes.

Mr. Heffernan and Ms. Lappin are kind of stuck as one-note characters, but they fulfill their boisterous roles with zeal. Ms. Lorusso is somewhat of a chameleon throughout the night, and Mr. Zacchero is endearing as the wise-cracking comic who longs for the laughs…but also for the girl.

With Dot Auchmoody's costuming and Carol Smith's hair and make-up, these characters all seem to have come out of central casting.

Mark Santos's two-level set of a living room and library, with multiple doors and secret passageways, is both sturdy and complex.

Director Megan McCombs, a strong performer herself, has lured some great comic performances from these actors (and her director's notes in the program made me laugh out loud).

But something was off on opening night, and just as the play kept me guessing about the killer (Was it the director? The Irish tenor? The composer?), I kept trying to figure out why everyone in the audience wasn't continuously rolling in the aisles.

Maybe the show isn't that strong. Maybe the actors don't have enough faith in the comedy, or in themselves. Maybe everyone needs to be a little more over the top.

Maybe the audience was devoid of a sense of humor.

Maybe it was just an off night.

But when you're an actor in a comedy, just like a slasher, you want to kill the audience every time you're on stage.

If you go

>>What: "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940"

>>Where: The Sugden Community Theatre, 701 Fifth Ave. S.

>>When: through Dec. 20

>>Cost: $30 ($10 for students with identification)

>>Info: 263-7990 or www.naplesplayers.org