The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Sep. 12th, 2003 07:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jcfialaHi.
'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' is an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens, and a rather interesting musical. I was lucky enough to find a copy of one of the original CDs of the cast recording when I was younger, and transcribed it to audiotape before returning it. (More on why this is interesting in a few moments.)
Now, for those of you not familiar with the story, you're probably wondering how Rupert Holmes managed to get a whole story out of half of a book. Well, it's quite simple - the story proceeds up until the book stops, and then an interesting intermission starts - the audience gets to vote on who is the murderer, who is a mystery detective, and finally which two characters fall in love. Once the votes are tabulated and the intermission is over, the story continues with the appropriate endings.
As such, the original cast recording I found in the library had about six different 'revelation' songs for the mystery detective, and about six different 'confession' songs for the various killers. To save the orchestra trouble, the songs generally are very similar, although some (like Puffer's confession) tie back to their earlier themes in a very satisfying way.
For a murder mystery, it's very light hearted. For one thing, the actors aren't entirely only playing the characters in the novel - they're playing a group of victorian actors who are playing the characters. As such, there's some lovely fourth-wall breaking bits, such as a song wherein a bit actor laments that he hasn't yet grabbed the spotlight - one that can pay off in a lovely way if he's chosen as the killer or detective, wherein he brags about finally grabbing it. And then there's another song 'Off to the Races', which is apparently a signature song of the fictitious acting company which they insert into every show.
The original cast recording can't be found anymore - I've looked occasionally on ebay and elsewhere, but never have found it anywhere else. I have managed to get a copy of the second cast recording, which isn't quite as good, as it only includes one detective song and two confessions, Rosa's and Puffer's. They're both very good, but I miss the range of the original. Instead they include 'Moonfall Quartet', which is alright, and 'Ceylon', which I just can't listen to and always skip over.
But at least I've got this CD - I see it on ebay often for north of $35, which suggests there's a number of other affectionados who are also in search of the multiple-choice musical. And when I have a tape player, I've still got my original cassette hidden away.
'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' is an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens, and a rather interesting musical. I was lucky enough to find a copy of one of the original CDs of the cast recording when I was younger, and transcribed it to audiotape before returning it. (More on why this is interesting in a few moments.)
Now, for those of you not familiar with the story, you're probably wondering how Rupert Holmes managed to get a whole story out of half of a book. Well, it's quite simple - the story proceeds up until the book stops, and then an interesting intermission starts - the audience gets to vote on who is the murderer, who is a mystery detective, and finally which two characters fall in love. Once the votes are tabulated and the intermission is over, the story continues with the appropriate endings.
As such, the original cast recording I found in the library had about six different 'revelation' songs for the mystery detective, and about six different 'confession' songs for the various killers. To save the orchestra trouble, the songs generally are very similar, although some (like Puffer's confession) tie back to their earlier themes in a very satisfying way.
For a murder mystery, it's very light hearted. For one thing, the actors aren't entirely only playing the characters in the novel - they're playing a group of victorian actors who are playing the characters. As such, there's some lovely fourth-wall breaking bits, such as a song wherein a bit actor laments that he hasn't yet grabbed the spotlight - one that can pay off in a lovely way if he's chosen as the killer or detective, wherein he brags about finally grabbing it. And then there's another song 'Off to the Races', which is apparently a signature song of the fictitious acting company which they insert into every show.
The original cast recording can't be found anymore - I've looked occasionally on ebay and elsewhere, but never have found it anywhere else. I have managed to get a copy of the second cast recording, which isn't quite as good, as it only includes one detective song and two confessions, Rosa's and Puffer's. They're both very good, but I miss the range of the original. Instead they include 'Moonfall Quartet', which is alright, and 'Ceylon', which I just can't listen to and always skip over.
But at least I've got this CD - I see it on ebay often for north of $35, which suggests there's a number of other affectionados who are also in search of the multiple-choice musical. And when I have a tape player, I've still got my original cassette hidden away.
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The Mystery *tap tap* of Edwin Droooood
Date: 2003-09-12 07:24 pm (UTC)And you've got copies of the music....you lucky stiff! *G*
I've seen it twice - once by a group of small players here at U of I and once at the community college closer to home. Even though you say the music available now isn't as good as the original, I shall put its soundtrack on my wish list.
Beth, off along the gardenpath to...
Re: The Mystery *tap tap* of Edwin Droooood
Date: 2003-09-12 10:31 pm (UTC)Well, it's not as *broad* as the original, but it's still good, and it's the same performers. But I liked being able to program the CD player to listen to whichever confession and detective I liked.