Facing the Music

Readers of a certain age may remember a moment, in a galaxy far, far away, when we couldn’t get enough of Star Wars. And everyone was trying to make a buck off that moment–from Star Wars “collectible” Slurpee cups to the Star Wars soundtrack album (which, I admit, I owned) to stormtrooper action figures in your Happy Meal. It’s said that even James Bond got in on the act, with “Moonraker” (1979) sending him into space.

But one of the most cynical attempts to capitalize on Star Wars Mania was the Star Wars Holiday Special, broadcast on CBS on November 17, 1978. George Lucas okayed the project and sketched out a bare-bones plot, then let a team of writers take it from there. This, it would turn out, was a mistake. It is widely regarded as the worst television show ever aired. A reviewer at the A.V. Club wrote “”I’m not convinced the special wasn’t ultimately written and directed by a sentient bag of cocaine.”

The Star Wars Holiday Special included most of the cast of the original movie, including Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), and this takes us to why I’m bringing this up. Carrie Fisher saw herself as a singer, and insisted that she be featured singing in the special. Not only did the producers agree to this, but in fact they included four tedious songs by various singers, including Jefferson Starship. (Hey, it was the 1970s.)

There were many reasons that the Star Wars Holiday Special sucked, and it’s not any one person’s fault. In the words of one of the writers, “There were probably no bad welders on the Titanic.” But I’m going to posit that the decision to essentially make it into a musical was spectacularly ill-advised.

Which brings us, as usual, to Edgar Allan Poe. Alert readers will recall that I’ve praised a comedy troupe called “Shipwrecked Comedy,” which, among other things, did a 13-part series imagining that Edgar Allan Poe invited a bunch of famous authors to a murder mystery dinner party. Here’s the trailer:

I thoroughly enjoyed the full series, which I thought was witty, clever, and fun, and which had surprisingly good production values. So imagine my delight when I learned the original cast was preparing to perform the full program on the stage. But for reasons that make sense only to Shipwrecked Comedy and, perhaps, George Lucas, they decided to turn their show into a musical.

Regardless, like a wine snob who ignores all the danger signs and enters the nitre-infested catacombs in pursuit of Amontillado, I hopped a plane to Burbank Saturday morning, where friend and former roommate Bruce T. met me. After fortifying ourselves with some stiff drinks and greasy burgers we made the short drive to the Garry Marshall Theater.

As we stood in line to enter it became clear to us that the audience was 80-85 percent female. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But I wouldn’t have expected this for a Poe show. But then, it’s not just any old Poe show, it’s a musical Poe show.

So herewith I offer my review of the show, which continues to play through August 29.

1. If you’ve seen the original series (available on YouTube), you already know 90 percent of the plot. For those of you who don’t know the story: Edgar Allan Poe and his “ghostly (female) manservant,” Lenore, decide to throw a dinner party for some famous writers from history. These include Ernest Hemingway, H.G. Wells, Oscar Wilde, Mary Shelley, Alexandre Dumas, George Eliot, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll, and Agatha Christie. The dinner party is of a “murder mystery” variety, but the murders turn out to be real. Whodunnit? There was a moderate change to the big reveal at the end of this mystery, and I thought this new ending was rather clever and surprising. (According to the program, there are “three possible endings. Come back for a new killer each show.”)
2. I think the value proposition of this show was supposed to be the musical numbers. Fourteen original songs were composed by the brother-and-sister team of Sean (Poe) and Sinéad (Lenore) Persaud. Live music was provided by a seven-piece orchestra, which was a nice touch. However, the songs were unremarkable. They entirely lacked any catchy tune that you might find yourself humming on the way home. Worse, they did almost nothing to advance the plot. Instead, they simply filled long pauses in the action.
3. On the other hand, the actors did well in their roles. They were for the most part endearing, charismatic, and capable. The humor is fairly witty and fast-paced. Poe is constantly making passive-aggressive jabs at his guests, HG Wells nervously tries to identify the killer with steampunk-style inventions, an oversexed Alexandre Dumas tries to woo Jane Austen, and George Eliot repeatedly tries to pass herself off as a man. It’s a fun, if silly and improbable, farce.

In case it’s not obvious, I submit the show fell into the same trap as the Star Wars Holiday Special. In both cases, the songs feel like an afterthought, grafted on in an effort to create something new, and/or to pad out the length. (This show ran almost three hours, with intermission.) In a true musical, the songs take center stage. We really don’t care about the rather simple plot of Singin’ in the Rain or The Wizard of Oz. We enjoy those classics for their music.

The Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Dinner Party, on the other hand, is enjoyable for its premise and its characters. The music only gets in the way. Three stars.