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Broadway shows apple mainstage packs5/28/2023 ![]() ![]() The second act begins with the updated medical status of the most recent victim: "The Man is Dead". ("I Miss the Music") Any doubt that Georgia could hold the stage is happily dispelled by the dress rehearsal of the big saloon hall number "Thataway!" But as the Act One curtain descends, murder rises to the occasion, and a key member of the company is forced to face The Big Blackout. In private with Lieutenant Cioffi, the composer makes a most unexpected confession. Composer Aaron Fox is urged to concoct a different number for the same slot in the show, minus the assistance of his ex-wife who, owing to her frantic rehearsal schedule, has now become his ex-writing partner as well. Cioffi is startled to hear himself suggest that the problem might lie in the song itself, and the director is surprised to hear himself agree. With Grady's challenge accepted, Chris Belling prepares to restage a particularly troublesome number, entitled "In the Same Boat". The producers ask Grady to re-review their musical with its new lead, but the best he can offer is to appraise the next evening's re-opening. The next day, as Georgia struggles to regain her show biz sea legs, Carmen and Sidney Bernstein invite Boston Globe senior drama critic Daryl Grady to pay them a visit, much to his bewilderment, since his review of the show found precious little to praise. ![]() to their respective careers, which in Cioffi's case has resulted in a life of lunch counter mornings and "Coffee Shop Nights". The police detective is clearly smitten with Niki's winsome charm and confides in her about his investigation. Cioffi is left alone with local neophyte actress Niki Harris, who understudied Jessica Cranshaw but is now covering for Georgia. Sidney Bernstein, the show's senior producing partner (and Carmen's philandering lesser half) arrives from New York - or at least that's where he claims to have been at the time of the murder. Cioffi feels the surest way to solve the crime will be to keep the entire cast of suspicious characters sequestered in the theatre. Since an autopsy has revealed that Jessica Cranshaw swallowed poison pellets in the last minutes of the show, during which time she never left the stage, it's clear she was murdered by a member of the company. With their faith in themselves and Robbin' Hood! renewed, the cast prepares to leave for the night when Cioffi explains that they can't. He and Carmen must remind the company that they are part of a special breed known as "Show People". The Lieutenant has done some amateur theatrical work himself, and he is as shocked as Carmen Bernstein to learn that the cast does not feel the show must go on. But the fateful news arrives: "The Woman's Dead".Īn Impromptu funeral ceremony in Jessica's honor is interrupted by the arrival of Homicide Lieutenant Frank Cioffi, who saw Robbin Hood! in previews and thinks that, with the exception of the late Miss Cranshaw, the cast are all spectacular performers in one heck of a show. ![]() All approve, except ex-husband Aaron, who points out that the issue is academic if Jessica Cranshaw returns to work. Director Belling reveals his masterful plan: as long as Jessica Cranshaw is indisposed, her part should be filled by Georgia, a former stage performer who obviously knows the show inside and out because she is its co-creator. Though her ex-husband may be accompanying her at the piano, Georgia is clearly thinking of Bobby as she sings "Thinking of Him". It's not secret to the company that Georgia has recently rekindled a past romance with the leading man Bobby Pepper. ![]() To demonstrate his plan, he asks Georgia to sing Jessica Cranshaw's first ballad in the show. They are joined by feverishly fey director, Christopher Belling, who announces he's just given birth to a brainchild the producers must instantly adopt. Slightly less daunted is Carmen Bernstein, co-producer (with her husband Sidney) of Robbin' Hood! The four speculate about "What Kind of Man", woman, or beast would ever choose to be a critic. Equally empty-handed is the show's lone financial backer Oscar Shapiro, garment district maven but theatre district novitiate. The show's composer, Aaron Fox and lyricist Georgia Hendricks - recently divorced but professionally reunited in an attempt to create musical magic where their marriage has otherwise gone flat - find nary a quote to pull. A few hours later, on the now darkened Colonial stage, four tormented souls in evening dress search the night owl editions of the Boston morning papers for a single charitable review. ![]()
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