Schools

Review: 'Drood' Is Fun and Unpredictable

Einstein's musical combines able voices and witty songs.

By Emma Banchoff

Seven suspects stand at the ready. One of them is the murderer of Edwin Drood. The actors, however, do not know which one of them will embody the role of killer. The suspects range from a minister to an opium den princess to Drood’s uncle. Welcome to a play that is both a musical and an open-ended murder mystery.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was the last novel Charles Dickens ever wrote, but because he died while in the process of writing it, the ending was never completed. This accounts for the heavy degree of audience participation in the show.

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The story revolves, in the first act, around the intricate romantic relationships between Rosa Bud (Sarah McCully), a beautiful vocal student of choir leader John Jasper (Jason Guerrero), her fiancé and Jasper’s nephew Edwin (Julia Timko), the foreign visitor Neville Landless (Storm Kowaleski), and John Jasper himself. The second act focuses on the disappearance and supposed murder of Edwin. The musical adaptation of the book was written by Rupert Holmes and won five Tony Awards in 1985.

Acting as the story’s narrator, Aaron Fellows was charismatic and possessed great comedic timing in his role of the chairman. His voice was strong in all of his solos, and he and Jason Guerrero, who played John Jasper, paired up in the impressive, fast-paced solo “Both Sides Of The Coin.” Especially admirable was the way Fellows organized the complicated voting in act two. He remained calm and effortlessly guided the ensemble through the process.

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Possessing beautiful, warm vocals and commanding stage presence, Nadia Turner portrayed the drug-dealing Princess Puffer with elegance and poise. Abi Fuentes and Rory Beckett, playing Durdles and the Deputy respectively, provided comic relief to the often dark story. The couple had expert and appropriate physical comedy and played very well off one another. As the aspiring actor who always ends up with minor roles, the hopeful and luckless Bazzard, played by Jackson Schaeffer, still got the chance to show off his vocal chops in the song “Never the Luck.”

Lighting was very well designed. Using silhouettes, the lighting crew effectively played off and utilized shadows to its advantage. Sometimes, however, the spotlights created two shadows that were distracting. There were some sound kinks as well, but for the most part, everyone could be well-heard during their respective solos.

At times, when certain actors were singing, the rest of the ensemble fell out of character and seemed distracted. Most of all, however, technical aspects of the show were well-executed and actors stayed in character.

"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" is, in its nature, a complicated show to prepare because of the variability of its outcome. The cast and crew of Albert Einstein High School, however, did an admirable job.

The mystery lives on!


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