'Something's Afoot' Delivers the Campy Laughs

There’s a deceptive air of ease about the rollicking musical-mystery-comedy Something’s Afoot now playing at the Citadel Theater through June 5.

On the surface, (without revealing who gets it and when), it’s a classic murder-mystery farce with a vaudeville twist. Ten characters show up to an English country weekend retreat and sing and dance as their fellow guests begin dropping like flies all around.

Smartly acted, tightly choreographed and rife with special effects, it’s precisely the type of production that was off limits to Citadel directors before the professional company from a cramped basement into a spacious new theater space.

“I wanted to do something that would have been impossible to do in our former space,” said Citadel Managing Director Wayne Mell. “This show is technically challenging and it’s not done very often for that reason.”

With one or two minor glitches, the show’s technical crew pulled off a minor miracle of magic. There must have been nearly as many lighting, sound and special effects cues as lines of dialogue, as, one by one, the characters succumbed to a variety of twisted fates.

Set in 1935, the play harkens to a time when a ringing telephone caused the actors to hunt somewhere other than their pockets. The two-level country estate features a lush interior punctuated by a fireplace, a round  and two suits of armor.

With nearly 200 years of onstage experience between them, according to Mell, the stellar cast each made the most of their parts. The structure of the story meant that some parts were smaller than others (in neatly descending order as to stage time), but every actor managed to shine.

Of particular note were Debra Criche Mell, whose Miss Tweed came off as more multi-dimensional Miss Marple, and Mario Mazzetti, whose hilarious turn as nephew-and-heir Nigel Rancour was so light-footed he actually performed a jeté at one point.

Clustered together to thwart the murderer, the cast harmonized beautifully in ensemble numbers with telling titles like “Something’s Afoot”, “Carry On,” and the brilliant pre-intermission number “Suspicious.”

Sarah Breidenbach was at her mellifluous best as her dewy ingénue character Hope Langdon serenaded the handsome young stranger Geoffrey with “I Don’t Know Why I Trust You (But I Do).”

The country estate’s servants contribute much in the way of background wit and sly asides. At the risk of giving too much away, the butler Clive (Dennis Murphy) didn’t do it. The saucy maid Lettie (Kaitlyn Andrulis) and maintenance man Flint (Edwart Kuffert) emerge from the backdrop in the bawdy double entendre number (Tiny Little) “Dingy.”

Ellen Phelps’ Lady Grace Manley-Prowe and Col. Gillweather (Andrew J. Pond) share a wonderful scene that would be a spoiler to describe, but she’s brilliant as an aging dame attempting to seduce his stoic British gentleman.

To sum it up, the musical trafficked in the ridiculous, and the audience was buying. The two-hour production seemed to fly by and delighted a nearly packed house.

Mell said despite doubling its capacity, community support and a greater visibility have meant the theater has been able to keep its seats full.

“At the risk of sounding too smug,” Mell said, “audiences have been very generous in their praise.”