Much Ado About Murder

It was a pleasure to have returned and visited with Woodmansterne Operatic and Dramatic Society (WODS) for this production of two halves. A murder mystery, followed by a musical cabaret certainly promised to be an entertaining evening. The fish and chip dinner added another element of interest and the ‘full house’ was most definitely buzzing with anticipation before the show began.

Deborah Trevatt (Director) is to first be congratulated for delivering this most entertaining production. The murder mystery cast all appeared both confident and well-rehearsed in their individual roles. Each character was quite distinct and had moments of humour which certainly came across well. Overall this was an absorbing performance that left the audience pondering who really ‘dunnit’?  The transition to a 1920 cabaret contrasted well with the first half and proved to be a similar success. WODS is indeed fortunate to considerable talent within the society to stage such a varied production.

The evening began with Blue Murder at Bluestone Hall and the humour soon began. An odd assortment of afternoon tea guests, some strange household servants, a bungling Detective Inspector and a myriad of potential murderers all combined to create an absorbing and very funny production. Each with a dark secret, and reason to murder Lord Henry, the plot quickly thickened and grew ever more tangled…

After the Fish and Chip dinner had been cleared away, the audience was transported back to the 1920’s for a musical cabaret. Numbers from such productions as Cabaret, Anything Goes, 42nd Street, Chicago and Follies had been carefully selected and were widely appreciated by the enthusiastic audience. Accompanying choreography added another element to each song.  All numbers were well-delivered and flowed seamlessly from one to another. The highlight came with the full company rendition of Everybody Needs Somebody from The Blues Brothers. This high-energy number certainly created much response from the audience and was a suitable way to end the evening.   

Congratulations once again to everyone involved with Much Ado about Murder and thank you for a most enjoyable evening’s entertainment. I look forward to my next visit - good luck with Aladdin and Shrek the Musical in 2025!

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