Winter Comedy Sells Out
“The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” was a success. The comedy was filled with surprising humor and beautiful 1940’s etiquette.
The winter comedy which aimed to tickle the funny of a packed audience within the community of Neenah was right on target.
“The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” blew away the crowd with unexpected humor. The February show sold out Friday (Feb. 3) and Saturday (Feb. 4) at 7 p.m. It was the perfect event to bring the Neenah community together.
The play was originally written by John Bishop, an English comedian. The Neenah High School Rocket Players ran the event with the directing of Jane Dix. Theatre technician Aaron Hoffmann and theatre assistant Jason Stoll are responsible for the secret passageways literally popping up out of the set. From the sliding bookcases, rising chairs and lights suddenly going out, the set was absolutely exquisite. Not to mention the antique radio that played a recording of Jim Strick, the Communications Manager of Neenah, acting as a 1940s news reporter.
The show left no one upset as the audience was practically in tears from the sassy lines and variety of characters. Any theatre geek is sure to fall head over heels for this comedy. The show is centered around the hostess Elsa Von Grossenkneten who has invited a producer, director, lyricist, dancer and actors to help produce a musical comedy. But wait, there is a blizzard and all of the phones seem to have gone dead! The house is blocked by ice and snow leaving no escape. When the producer, Marjorie Baverstock, is struck in the back by a sword, things take a darker turn. The killer is someone in the house, or is it? Could it be the maid, the maid’s twin, or triplet? Or perhaps it is Ken De La Maize the director. The audience is left knowing that the maid and the director are anything but normal. Through the “simply divoon” 1940s outfits and slang it feels like Pickard auditorium is a time machine.
The audience left asking about the other nights; they could come back to watch. The audience was seated on the actual stage itself to give a more personal appeal. The Neenah community is currently left with high expectations for the spring musical “James and the Giant Peach.” Dates have not yet been released.
John Zwick • Mar 10, 2017 at 9:56 AM
This review did a nice job of building suspense and heightening interest by using rhetorical questions. Without spoiling the plot, the review gives readers a good idea of what they’ll be seeing if they attend the play.
Luke Johnson • Mar 8, 2017 at 1:13 PM
I thought the author of this review did a good job using figurative language to draw the reader in. There were a couple times where I thought the word choice or phraseology was a little overdone, but overall, I enjoyed the review. Unfortunately, I missed out on seeing the play because it was, as the author stated, sold out by the time I arrived.
Bradley • Mar 7, 2017 at 10:18 AM
The language in this article is fantastic. The imagery of the lights and the audience truly recreated the atmosphere of the play. The only qualm I had was the title led me to believe the article was critical of the play in that it “sold out” to make money.
Ava Dieck • Mar 7, 2017 at 8:28 AM
The personification used right at the beginning of the piece really drew me in. The diction used felt appropriately paced for being a story about a fast- paced play.
Ksenya Seager • Mar 6, 2017 at 10:25 AM
Just reading the first sentence of this article, the use of figurative language made me smile. I think that this information is also important from a civically engaged standpoint, because for a show to be sold out like this, the community really has to come together and a lot of people need to come and see it. The support and excitement the cast must have felt when the show sold out was demonstrated very well through this story.