[NEohioPAL] "Edwin Drood" opens in Akron

[Janis Harcar]

Rollicking Musical-Comedy Whodunit
‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’
Offers Audiences a Choose-Your-Own-Ending Theatrical Experience
Tony Award-Winning Musical is Based on the Last, Unfinished Novel by Celebrated Author Charles Dickens

(Sept. 20, 2012 – Akron, Ohio – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE) – Weathervane Playhouse’s 78th season continues with the rollicking musical comedy The Mystery of Edwin Drood – presented live on stage between Oct. 4 and 21, 2012.

When he died in 1870, famed English writer Charles Dickens left behind an unfinished novel, upon which this playful show-within-a-show musical comedy is based. 

The time is 1892 and the setting is the East End of London inside the Music Hall Royale, where a giddy theatrical troupe is staging its own wildly flamboyant version of this unfinished Dickens mystery story. We meet the assembled company members and they assume their Drood roles on the stage of the slightly gaudy Victorian-era music hall – and that’s when the tangled tale of The Mystery of Edwin Drood bursts to raucous life.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood centers around a love triangle. John Jasper is the moody choirmaster of Cloisterham Cathedral. He’s in love with his young pupil, the fair Miss Rosa Budd. However, she’s engaged to someone else – Mr. Jasper’s own nephew, Edwin Drood.

On a stormy Christmas Eve, Edwin Drood vanishes. Has he merely disappeared – or might he have been murdered? If it’s murder, then the next question is, “Whodunit?” Only the playgoers know for sure, because – at each performance of The Mystery of Edwin Drood – the audience gets to vote on the solution that will determine the show’s conclusion.

A boisterous, playful and rollicking musical-comedy whodunit, Weathervane Playhouse’s production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood is directed by Jim Weaver with musical direction by Jennifer Korecki.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood Performance and Ticket Information

The Mystery of Edwin Drood plays on the Weathervane Playhouse Founders Theater stage between Oct. 4 and 21, 2012.

The low-cost preview performance is Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m.; the official opening-night performance is Friday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m.

Between Oct. 4 and 21, 2012, the performance days and times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. 

Tickets for the Oct. 4 preview performance only (at 7:30 p.m.) are $18 each. Tickets for performances after Oct. 4 are $24 each. 

$21 tickets for seniors are available for Thursday and Sunday performances. Tickets for children (ages 17 or younger) and college students are $5 each at all performances. Additional discounts for groups of 12 or larger are also available. 

The Weathervane Playhouse Box Office is open Mondays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and is also open beginning one hour before each performance. For tickets, visit or call the Weathervane Box Office at 330-836-2626 during Box Office hours or connect online to www.weathervaneplayhouse.com.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood Cast

PATRICK DUKEMAN — Mr. William Cartwright, Your Chairman/ Mayor Thomas Sapsea 

TROY KOWATCH — Mr. James Throttle / Stage Manager/ Barkeep 

JASON LEUPOLD — John Jasper / Mr. Clive Pagett 
AMANDA DAVIS — Edwin Drood / Miss Alice Nutting 
ALEXANDRA JAEB — Rosa Bud / Miss Deidre Peregrine 
CRYSTAL CARLSON — Wendy / Miss Isabel Yearsley 
ABBEY KANE — Beatrice / Miss Florence Gill 
MELANIE HAUER — Helena Landless / Miss Janet Conover 
CODY HERNANDEZ — Neville Landless / Mr. Victor Grinstead 
ADAM VIGNEAULT — The Rev. Mr. Crisparkle / Mr. Cedric Moncrieffe 
MEG HOPP — The Princess Puffer / Miss Angela Prysock 
TIM WELSH — Durdles / Mr. Nick Cricker 
DANIEL RYLANDER — Deputy / Master Nick Cricker 
DYLAN RATELL — Bazzard / Waiter / Mr. Phillip Bax 
CHRIS TUCK — Mr. Harry Sayle / Shade of Drood (Ensemble) 
MICHAEL CROWLEY — Mr. Montaque Pruitt / Shade of Jasper (Ensemble) 
JOHN LIPTAK — Horace / Mr. Nicholas Michael (Ensemble) 
JAKE POSKO — Julian / Mr. Alan Elliot (Ensemble) 
ALLISON GOOD — Miss Violet Balfour / Maid (Ensemble) 
JULIA ZOOK — Miss Gwendolen Pynn / Maid (Ensemble) 
KAITLYN GLOVER — Miss Sarah Cook (Ensemble) 
SHANNON HUBMAN — Gertie Thompson (Ensemble)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood Backstage Team

DANIELLE TERLONGE — Stage Manager

MIKE SFERRO and ROB ANDERSON — Lighting Co-Designers

GARY ROBINSON — Sound Designer

MARY PAT DOORLEY — Properties Co-Designer

BRIANNA MACHUGA — Properties Co-Designer

JORDAN PRIDDY — Properties Co-Designer

JASEN J. SMITH — Costume Designer

ALAN SCOTT FERRALL — Scenic Designer and Technical Director

KATHY KOHL — Assistant Technical Director

About the Show’s Director

JIM WEAVER has mounted shows that range from the musical comedy styling of Gilbert and Sullivan to the drama of August Wilson. Included in his body of work are productions of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado and The All Night Strut at The American Stage Festival, A Raisin in the Sun and The Hi-De-Ho Man, Cab Calloway for the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe in Sarasota, Florida, Five Guys Named Moe, Little Shop of Horrors, Floyd Collins and Once On This Island at the Weston Playhouse, Fences and A Soldier’s Play at The Historic Asolo Theatre in Florida, Ragtime for Kent State University, Junkanoo Drums at Lincoln Center (New York), Guys and Dolls for the Fine Arts Association of Willoughby and Ain’t Misbehavin at Maine State Music Theatre, American Stage Company, Bay Street Theatre, and Weston Playhouse. Internationally he has directed works seen in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France and Austria. He is a member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers. 

About the Show’s Musical Director

JENNIFER KORECKI is happy to be back at the Weathervane Playhouse. Her last appearance was as Co-Musical Director for Quilters.  She has played piano/keyboard for many WPC productions and was the Assistant Music Director for Children of Eden.  Jennifer has been the high school vocal music and musical theatre director at Highland High School, Barberton High School and most recently at Cuyahoga Falls High School.  She accompanies for classes and productions at Kent State University and Porthouse Theatre and, this summer, was the lead instructor for the Porthouse Academy High School Division.  Jennifer received her BA and MFA degrees from Kent State University in Music Education and also holds a K-12 Gifted Endorsement.  She works for Summit County in the screening and identification of gifted students in the arts.  Jennifer is also the assistant director of the Hudson Community Choir.  Her primary and most rewarding job now is as mom to her 5-year old daughter Anna.  She thanks her husband, Charles, for his constant love and support.

About the Show’s Production History

The Mystery of Edwin Drood originated at the New York Shakespeare Festival, the famed not-for-profit theater company that produces the city’s annual “Shakespeare in the Park” performances. The Mystery of Edwin Drood opened at Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre in August of 1985 and, following its summertime success, transferred to Broadway for a commercial run that would last for a total of 608 performances. The show was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won five – including Best Musical. This October, the show will have its first Broadway revival when New York City’s Roundabout Theatre Company opens its production of the musical at Studio 54.

About the Show’s Composer and Writer

People who were alive in 1979 and 1980 would probably recognize the No. 1 pop song "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)," which was written by this show’s creator, RUPERT HOLMES, who wrote this musical’s book, music and lyrics. Prior to The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Holmes was a pop singer-songwriter who wrote, arranged and conducted recordings for Barbra Streisand, including the album Lazy Afternoon and songs for the Golden Globe-winning score of A Star is Born. His work on The Mystery of Edwin Drood earned him the 1986 Tony Award for Best Musical – which marked the first time in Broadway history that one person solely won Tony Awards as the author, lyricist and composer of a musical. His most recent work for the Broadway stage was his book for the musical Curtains, to which he also contributed additional lyrics (for the legendary songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb). He received a Tony Award nomination for writing Say Goodnight Gracie and won the National Broadway Theatre Award for Best Play. Among his other plays are the comedy/thriller Accomplice (winner of an Edgar Awards from The Mystery Writers of America) and the courtroom drama A Time to Kill (adapted from the novel by John Grisham). For television, he created, wrote and scored the AMC series Remember WENN. His first novel, Where the Truth Lies, was nominated for both a Nero Wolfe Award and Booklist Award for Best American Mystery Novel (and was adapted into a motion picture starring Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon). His next project is a novel (designed to be the first in a series) called The McMasters Guide to Homicide: Murder Your Employer. 

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Weathervane Playhouse and its dedicated volunteers offer vital performing arts resources for the people of Northeastern Ohio. We create exciting and thought-provoking shows with impressive production values. Through educational programs and volunteer opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds, Weathervane serves the theater community, our patrons and our volunteers.

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, education excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Weathervane Playhouse’s 2012-2013 Season Support Provided by:
Akron Community Foundation
The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation
89.7 WSKU-FM
Kenneth L. Calhoun Charitable Trust (KeyBank, Trustee)
OMNOVA Solutions Foundation
Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation
Sisler McFawn Foundation
The Ohio Arts Council

Janis Harcar
Director of Advancement
Weathervane Playhouse
330-836-2626 X16
jharcar at weathervaneplayhouse.com



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