Do you find reading this name to yourself is a little amusing? Bet your lips puckered without your realizing it. Try saying it aloud; bet you can’t without having a little fun with it. At A2CT’s hilarious production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre this weekend, you can think it, say it, sing it, even stand up and shout it at the top of your lungs and you will be in good company. It is encouraged and it is satisfying, much like the performance that surrounds it. It’s no wonder this interactive Rupert Holmes musical won several Tony Awards. It’s that fun.
As the real story goes, The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel written by Charles Dickens, who died before completing it, leaving the explanation of the title character’s mysterious disappearance unresolved. However, in the musical, we, the audience, get to…
Ann Arbor Civic’s #Drood opens tonight June 1 at The Lydia Mendelssohn! Enjoy these photos by the fabulous Aaron C Wade from last night’s dress rehearsal! And listen to our delightful director Ron Baumanis and terrific “Chairman” Jarred Hoffert on W4Countryhere and The Lucy Ann Lance Showhere.
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre presents the hilarious audience-solves-the-murder musical, Rupert Holmes’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood, June 1, 7:30p, June 2 and 3, 8:00p, June 4, 2:00p at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.a2ct.org/shows/the-mystery-of-edwin-drood.
The musical concerns a troupe of players at an English Music Hall putting on a musical production of Charles Dickens’ last novel which, alas, he died before completing. It is up to the audience to vote and decide who the murderer, detective, and the evenings lovers will be. Every performance features a different ending based on the audience vote, and is an evening of smartly written, very funny entertainment for all ages. Drood won 5 Tony Winning and 9 Drama Desk awards in 1986, and recently had a revival on Broadway which garnered raves. The musical was originally produced by the Joseph Papp New York Shakespeare Festival in New York’s Central Park. Parents should be aware that there is a light smattering of late 1800’s colorful British language.
All performers in the 19-member cast play dual roles — those of performers at the Music Hall, and the characters they become “on stage” for the staging of the novel. Jared Hoffert is the evening’s Chairperson. Drood (a male impersonator) is played by Vanessa Banister. Evil Jasper is played by Roy Sexton. Love interest Rosa Bud is played by Kimberly Elliott. Brother/sister Neville and Helena are played by Brandon Cave and Becca Nowak. Brodie Brockie plays the Reverend Crisparkle, Michael Cicirelli is Bazzard, and Alisa Mutchler Bauer plays the mysterious Princess Puffer while Durdles is played by Jimmy Dee Arnold. The cast is rounded out by Peter Dannug, Sarah Sweeter, Heather Wing, Julia Fertel, Ashleigh Glass, Chris Joseph, Kari Nilsen and Kelly Wade. There is a mysterious guest appearance by Ch. Brady Cesaro.
Directed by award-winning Ron Baumanis (Bonnie & Clyde, The Wedding Singer, next to normal), musical directed by Daniel Bachelis (who also conducts the full orchestra), and choreographed by Debra Calabrese (Croswell Opera House’s Memphis, In The Heights). Designed by Ron Baumanis, Lighting Design by Thom Johnson, Sound Design by Bob Skon, Costume Design by Molly Borneman, properties designed by Aaron Wade. Produced by Wendy Sielaff.
I couldn’t be prouder of my mom Susie Duncan Sexton. This article is from The Ball State University Honors College alumni magazine. The author Olivia Power captured my mom’s spirit and soul. This is a beauty, and Olivia wove all of the threads of my mom’s life – her writing, her books, her advocacy, her progressive views, her irreverence, her wit – so lovingly and so thoughtfully. I am just tickled to pieces with this. A life richly lived and appropriately, effusively celebrated. This is marvelous!
Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
“In the second half of the show, the audience votes on who is the detective, who murdered Edwin Drood, and who the lovers are at the end and each ending is slightly different,” Mystery of Edwin Drood director Ron Baumanis said. “To keep it entertaining and move it along each of the suspects, and there are eight of them, have to know even different endings to the show. We are rehearsing each suspect with several different people and then switching to another suspect. They’re really good; we have a top-notch cast. I’m very fortunate.”
“I hope it drives people to read Dickens’ novella because it’s fantastic stuff. I was very interested in what he thought about these characters,” said Baumanis. “Two, I want them to leave saying it was really professional and they usually do. I want them to say that was a slick show and I want to come back to another show. Three, I hope they enjoy it, not your typical show after work but they are part of it.”
Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
The first third of the film adaptation of TV’s Baywatch seems designed chiefly to show off how impressive Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s calves are. Admittedly, they do look like two bowling balls suspended in mid-air between his ankles and his knees. THIS remarkable feat of anatomy, however, does not a great movie make.
Directed by Seth Gordon (um … Identity Thief), the film aspires to the same pop culture meta lunacy of 21 Jump Street, Charlie’s Angels, or The Brady Bunch Movie. Unfortunately, the proceedings are saddled with a pedestrian script that is more paint-by-numbers Beverly Hills Cop III than off-the-charts self-referential foolishness. And that’s a shame, as Gordon has assembled a cast that could sell hyperbole to President Trump.
Johnson and Zac Efron are an ADORABLE comedic couple, and they deserve MUCH better material (see: Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys). Their repartee (not to mention gleaming teeth and pneumatic abs) powers through the pedestrian material (drug cartel, half-baked political shenanigans, police corruption) to keep the audience entertained well beyond all reason. These two (playing overly ambitious California lifeguards who think their jobs involve after hours police work – cute idea) deserved such a better script, for their personal training regimen alone, not to mention the wit and wisdom both bring to just about any project.
The supporting cast is a hoot too: Priyanka Chopra, preening and prancing as the underdeveloped “big bad;” Kelly Rohrbach more self-aware than required as the Pamela Anderson-comic relief; Alexandra Daddario (whose eyes could pierce concrete blocks) as Efron’s infinitely wiser love interest; Ilfenesh Hadera as The Rock’s endlessly patient lieutenant; and Jon Bass as the exuberant schlub who has somehow been asked to join their hard-bodied lifeguarding team.
Damn, but I wish they had all had a thoughtfully designed script. Hell, any script. I was entertained for 90 minutes, but I’ve completely forgotten already what plot if any existed. I remember Zac Efron’s highlighted hair and his Malibu Ken physique. I will never forget Dwayne Johnson’s megawatt smile shining beneath the tumultuous waves as he rescued one woebegone Cali beach swimmer after another. But the plot? That has already escaped my brain, even as I type.
Will you have a good time watching this cinematic Baywatch? Of course, you will. It’s the same mindless idiocy of the 1990s syndicated TV hit (David Hasselhoff even puts in yet ANOTHER unnecessary summer ’17 film appearance) with a heaping, helping of post-millennial wink-and-nod camp. I just wish the filmmakers had taken … oh, I don’t know … ten extra minutes? … to devise plot and dialogue that gave Johnson and Efron something to do with all the charisma (and biceps) that they have in spades. Would anybody like to stage Sam Shepard’s True West with two charmingly steroidal hunks? If so, I think I have your duo.
As one cast member (I can’t recall who now for the life of me) notes to Efron’s dim bulb former-Olympian character (a la Ryan Lochte), “Thank God you’re pretty.” Indeed.
_____________________
Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
Enjoy these video clips from today’s Mystery of Edwin Drood “sitzprobe” (or fancy German word for first rehearsal with the full orchestra). Click and any/all of the clips below, or view the full playlist here. Special thanks to music director Daniel Bachelis for making all of us sound so darn good! He’s a marvel! And this cast? … Just simply the best!
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre presents the hilarious audience-solves-the-murder musical, Rupert Holmes’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood, June 1, 7:30p, June 2 and 3, 8:00p, June 4, 2:00p at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.a2ct.org/shows/the-mystery-of-edwin-drood.
And please join our Drood Facebook event page here for ongoing updates/reminders.
The musical concerns a troupe of players at an English Music Hall putting on a musical production of Charles Dickens’ last novel which, alas, he died before completing. It is up to the audience to vote and decide who the murderer, detective, and the evenings lovers will be. Every performance features a different ending based on the audience vote, and is an evening of smartly written, very funny entertainment for all ages. Drood won 5 Tony Winning and 9 Drama Desk awards in 1986, and recently had a revival on Broadway which garnered raves. The musical was originally produced by the Joseph Papp New York Shakespeare Festival in New York’s Central Park. Parents should be aware that there is a light smattering of late 1800’s colorful British language.
All performers in the 19-member cast play dual roles — those of performers at the Music Hall, and the characters they become “on stage” for the staging of the novel. Jared Hoffert is the evening’s Chairperson. Drood (a male impersonator) is played by Vanessa Banister. Evil Jasper is played by Roy Sexton. Love interest Rosa Bud is played by Kimberly Elliott. Brother/sister Neville and Helena are played by Brandon Cave and Becca Nowak. Brodie Brockie plays the Reverend Crisparkle, Michael Cicirelli is Bazzard, and Alisa Mutchler Bauer plays the mysterious Princess Puffer while Durdles is played by Jimmy Dee Arnold. The cast is rounded out by Peter Dannug, Sarah Sweeter, Heather Wing, Julia Fertel, Ashleigh Glass, Chris Joseph, Kari Nilsen and Kelly Wade. There is a mysterious guest appearance by Ch. Brady Cesaro.
Directed by award-winning Ron Baumanis (Bonnie & Clyde, The Wedding Singer, next to normal), musical directed by Daniel Bachelis (who also conducts the full orchestra), and choreographed by Debra Calabrese (Croswell Opera House’s Memphis, In The Heights). Designed by Ron Baumanis, Lighting Design by Thom Johnson, Sound Design by Bob Skon, Costume Design by Molly Borneman, properties designed by Aaron Wade. Produced by Wendy Sielaff.
_____________________
Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
I see a very special holiday card in Rosa and Jasper’s future. I mean … right?! Meet this darling, wholesome couple in person June 1-4 for Ann Arbor Civic’s production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre on the University of Michigan campus – tickets at www.A2ct.org/tickets – all photos by Aaron C. Wade.
Want a sneak peek of two of our musical numbers in rehearsal? Click here and here for “There You Are” and here for “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead.” Video courtesy our amazing director Ron Baumanis, magical moves by Debra Calabrese, musical goodness by Daniel Bachelis.
I think we’re ready for costumes … or maybe I just need a personal dresser …
And the cast in repose … or just completely exhausted …
From The Ann Arbor Observer …
_____________________
Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre presents the hilarious audience-solves-the-murder musical, Rupert Holmes’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood, June 1, 7:30p, June 2 and 3, 8:00p, June 4, 2:00p at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.a2ct.org/shows/the-mystery-of-edwin-drood.
And please join our Drood Facebook event page here for ongoing updates/reminders.
The musical concerns a troupe of players at an English Music Hall putting on a musical production of Charles Dickens’ last novel which, alas, he died before completing. It is up to the audience to vote and decide who the murderer, detective, and the evenings lovers will be. Every performance features a different ending based on the audience vote, and is an evening of smartly written, very funny entertainment for all ages. Drood won 5 Tony Winning and 9 Drama Desk awards in 1986, and recently had a revival on Broadway which garnered raves. The musical was originally produced by the Joseph Papp New York Shakespeare Festival in New York’s Central Park. Parents should be aware that there is a light smattering of late 1800’s colorful British language.
All performers in the 19-member cast play dual roles — those of performers at the Music Hall, and the characters they become “on stage” for the staging of the novel. Jared Hoffert is the evening’s Chairperson. Drood (a male impersonator) is played by Vanessa Banister. Evil Jasper is played by Roy Sexton. Love interest Rosa Bud is played by Kimberly Elliott. Brother/sister Neville and Helena are played by Brandon Cave and Becca Nowak. Brodie Brockie plays the Reverend Crisparkle, Michael Cicirelli is Bazzard, and Alisa Mutchler Bauer plays the mysterious Princess Puffer while Durdles is played by Jimmy Dee Arnold. The cast is rounded out by Peter Dannug, Sarah Sweeter, Heather Wing, Julia Fertel, Ashleigh Glass, Chris Joseph, Kari Nilsen and Kelly Wade. There is a mysterious guest appearance by Ch. Brady Cesaro.
Directed by award-winning Ron Baumanis (Bonnie & Clyde, The Wedding Singer, next to normal), musical directed by Daniel Bachelis (who also conducts the full orchestra), and choreographed by Debra Calabrese (Croswell Opera House’s Memphis, In The Heights). Designed by Ron Baumanis, Lighting Design by Thom Johnson, Sound Design by Bob Skon, Costume Design by Molly Borneman, properties designed by Aaron Wade. Produced by Wendy Sielaff.
Ensemble – photo by Aaron C. Wade
_____________________
Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
Thank you, Linda Thomson and The Post and Mail, for this incredible and inclusive coverage of Blue Bell Lofts’ grand opening event this week. So honored for us to have been part of this. My grandfather Roy Duncan would have been over the moon with pride. My mom knocked her speech out of the park! (NOTE: Kevin McDonell, vice president of development for Commonwealth, actually presented on behalf of Louie Lange, attributed in the below article.)
_____________________
Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
So proud of my mom Susie Duncan Sexton and her remarks at today’s Blue Bell Lofts Grand Opening!
And so proud of my hometown and all of the wonderful people who did such thoughtful and heartfelt work to restore this landmark: Ryan Daniel, Jeff Walker, Regina Gowen, Commonwealth, Ryan Edwards, Matt Rayburn, Louie Lange III, Kevin McDonell, and an army of others whose names elude me presently!
Great seeing cousin Cheryl Schuman, Greg Fahl, Teresa Dowell, Ruby Sherman, Becky Felix, Scott and Phyllis Gates, Linda Thomson, Cathy Schrader, Mike Lemmon, Pat Hatcher, Katie Rethlake Dewitt, Myrna Joann Bailey, Ralph Bailey, and all the others in the standing room only crowd! View the video of her speech here.
Special thanks to Terry Tatum for reaching out to me and to my mom a few years ago in the initial days of Commonwealth’s research for this opportunity. What a journey this has been!
Today’s grand opening was a remarkable event celebrating the power of community to reclaim its history and reinvent for a new age. The collective love and appreciation in that room is something I will reflect on for days and months to come. The other speakers (I wish I’d had the confidence in my already jammed with music and photos iPhone to record them all) did a marvelous job detailing the great care, persistence, and vision that went into the years of planning and preparation, turning this former manufacturing facility of “work (and play) clothes” into beautiful senior loft residences. The Historic Blue Bell Lofts development is a case study that all other communities would be wise to study and replicate.
AND … then, for the day’s second act, I hightailed it back to Ann Arbor to perform in the sneak peek of Ann Arbor Civic Theatre’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood at The Session Room. Our intrepid band tested our still-shaky British accents (we’re getting there!) and our arguably-shakier improv skills to a full and appreciative house. Our singing? Flawless. 🙂 We ran through half a dozen numbers, and I suspect video exists …. Heaven help us.
All in all, Drood at The Session Room was a hoot! Thanks to Aaron Latham and Rob, Don Blumenthal, John Reyes and kids, and Matthew Pecek for coming out and supporting this night of shenanigans! (Performance photos by Aaron Wade.) The Mystery of Edwin Drood from Ann Arbor Civic Theatre runs June 1-4 at Lydia Mendelssohn Theater – tickets at www.a2ct.org. Don’t miss it! and …#voteforme
_____________________
Reel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.
The first third of the film adaptation of TV’s Baywatch seems designed chiefly to show off how impressive Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s calves are. Admittedly, they do look like two bowling balls suspended in mid-air between his ankles and his knees. THIS remarkable feat of anatomy, however, does not a great movie make.
_____________________
