Rob Ruggiero Directs Musical Comedy Whodunit Where the Audience Chooses a New Ending at Each Performance

EAST HADDAM, CT  – Goodspeed Musicals proudly welcomes The Mystery of Edwin Drood as its first production of the 2024 season. You’re invited to solve a crime in an uproarious murder mystery at The Goodspeed from April 5 – June 2 in East Haddam, Conn. A night with murderers has never been so much fun! [Official Press Opening will be April 17, 2024, at 7:30 p.m.]
 
Who killed Edwin Drood? You decide! A troupe of Victorian performers invites you to play detective in this musical comedy whodunit packed with surprise. Your vote picks the guilty party from a lineup of suspicious Charles Dickens characters who leap off the page and into a gas-lit, gilded, giddy spectacle. No one is who they appear to be among the corrupt suspects in this cunning and clever show-within-a-show. You’ll be guessing motives, masks and murder ’til the final curtain.
 
Based on an unfinished Charles Dickens novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood is by Rupert Holmes (book, music, lyrics, and original orchestrations). Holmes, a current New York Times best-selling author, was the first person to singly win Tony Awards for book, music and lyrics of a musical, this for The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which also won the Tony for Best Musical in 1986. The Drama Desk bestowed all identical honors with yet another to Holmes for Best Orchestration. Drood’s 2012-2013 Broadway return received a Best Revival Tony nomination. Holmes has written, arranged and conducted platinum recordings for Barbra Streisand and is a pop songwriter of Top 40 recordings including his own #1 hit “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” (Broadway: Curtains; Say Goodnight, Gracie; Accomplice; A Time to Kill).
 
Chairman/William Cartwright will be played by Lenny Wolpe (The Goodspeed: Show Boat; The Terris: A Connecticut Christmas Carol, The Baker’s Wife; Broadway: Bullets Over Broadway, Wicked, Drowsy Chaperone). Princess Puffer/Angela Prysock will be played by Liz McCartney (The Goodspeed: Paint Your Wagon; Broadway: Funny Girl, My Fair Lady, Sunday in the Park with George). Edwin Drood/Alice Nutting will be played by Mamie Parris (The Goodspeed: A Grand Night for Singing, The Most Happy Fella; Broadway: Cats, School of Rock, On the Twentieth Century). Jasper/Clive Paget will be played by Paul Adam Schaefer (Broadway: Phantom of the Opera, Off-Broadway: Giant). Neville Landless/Victor Grinstead will be played by Levin Valayil. Rosa Bud/Deidre Peregrine will be played by Riley Noland. Helena Landless/Janet Conover will be played by Jetta Juriansz. Crisparkle/Cedric Moncrieff will be played by Paul Slade Smith (Broadway: Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, My Fair Lady). Durdles/Master Nick Cricker will be played by David Beach (The Goodspeed: Damn Yankees; The Terris: The Great American Mousical; Broadway: Something Rotten, It’s Only A Play). Deputy/Mister Nick Cricker will be played by Marcus Montgomery (Off-Broadway: Dog Man: The Musical, Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical). Bazzard/Phillip Bax will be played by Jamie LaVerdiere (The Goodspeed: Oliver!; Broadway: The Producers, The Pirate Queen).
 
The ensemble will feature Jon Cooper (The Terris: A Connecticut Christmas Carol; Off-Broadway: Errol and Fidel), Benjamin Howes (The Goodspeed: Anything Goes, High Button Shoes; Broadway: Scandalous, Mary Poppins), Albert Jennings (Broadway: Aladdin), Miyuki Miyagi, Jacqueline Petroccia (The Goodspeed: Because of Winn Dixie), Jesse Swimm (The Goodspeed: Billy Elliot, Fiddler on the Roof, High Button Shoes; Broadway: School of Rock, Mary Poppins), and Natalie Welch.
 
Swings for this production are Megan Arseneau and Noah Ruebeck (Off-Broadway: Nightclub Cantata, The Lieutenant).
 
The Mystery of Edwin Drood will be directed by Rob Ruggiero (The Goodspeed: A Grand Night for Singing, Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof, Carousel, Show Boat, 1776, and many others; Broadway: High, Looped). James Gray will choreograph the production (The Goodspeed: Oliver!; The Terris: Lucky Guy; Broadway: Prince of Broadway).
 
Music Direction will be by Goodspeed’s Resident Music Director Adam Souza (Goodspeed: Over 20 productions including The 12, Summer Stock, Gypsy, 42nd Street, Cabaret, Because of Winn Dixie; Broadway/National Tour: Wicked, Kinky Boots). Scenic Design will be by Ann Beyersdorfer. Costume Design will be by Hunter Kaczorowski (Off-Broadway: Mister Miss America, HAM). Lighting Design will be by Rob Denton (The Goodspeed: The Will Rogers Follies, Thoroughly Modern Millie; Off-Broadway: Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, The Jerusalem Syndrome). Sound Design will be by Jay Hilton who has designed countless productions at both The Goodspeed and The Terris Theatre and serves as Goodspeed’s Audio Supervisor. Hair/Wigs design will be by Tommy Kurzman (Broadway: I Need That, Gutenberg: The Musical!, The Cottage). Orchestrations will be by Christopher Jahnke (The Goodspeed: A Little Night Music, On the Twentieth Century; The Terris: Dear World; Broadway: Legally Blonde, Porgy and Bess, Les Misérables).
 
Chris Zaccardi will be the Production Stage Manager. Casting for this production is by Paul Hardt / Hardt Casting.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC. www.concordtheatricals.com
 
The Mystery of Edwin Drood will run April 5th – June 2nd, 2024. [Official Press Opening: April 17, 2024.]  Curtain times are Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (with select performances at 2:00 p.m.), Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. (with select performances at 6:30 p.m.). 

Tickets are available through the Box Office (860.873.8668), open weekdays at 10:00 a.m. and weekends at 11:00 a.m., or online at goodspeed.org. For show highlights, exclusive photos, special events and more, visit us at goodspeed.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.