Something's Afoot

[musical medea]

Posted: 3/8/05 at 3:01pm

I have been told about an audition for a show called Something's Afoot. I know very little about except it is a murder mystery musical. If anyone could give me some info on the show and teh characters I would be so grateful!!!

[Jon]

Posted: 3/8/05 at 3:14pm

It's essentially a parody of Agatha Christie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS - everyone is stranded in a mansion on an island during a storm, and people are killed one by one. The gimmick of the show is that all the murders are done by inanimate objects - poison gas comes out of the phone, a statue of a knight in armor hits someone on the head, etc.

The characters:

FEMALE:
Miss Tweed: Old lady detective, based on Christie's Miss Marple (think "Murder She Wrote")
Lady Manley-Prowe - elegant middle aged rich lady
Lettie - saucy, sexy cockney maid
And an ingenue romantic lead I CANNOT recall the name of.

MALE:
Flint: Comical cockney handyman - middle aged
Jeffrey: Juvenile romantic lead
Nigel: Conniving, villainous nephew - 30's
Colonel (whatever his name): - middle-aged bumbling army man
Doctor Greyson: middle aged doctor- dies halfway through Act 1
Clive: - the butler - dies 15 minutes into the show.

[musical medea]

Posted: 3/8/05 at 4:00pm

thank you so much jon! that info is extremely helpful! do you happen tp know the vocal ranges of the ladies by chance?

[Shirley Hemphill]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 10:54pm

oh wow -- i totally forgot about this show! I saw a small (but great) production way back in 1979... It was so much fun...

[joeybiltmore1]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 11:21pm

Miss Tweed and Lettie are belty. Lady Manly-Prowe is funny when she's a hooty soprano who can pull a belt out of her butt, and Hope is a cute soprano.

Something's Afoot can be a lot of fun. It has a very British sensibilty and the set is practically the star of the show. The score has many delightful songs, with the opening, "A Marvelous Weekend" one of my favorite show openings of all time. "Carry On" and "I Owe It All" always stop the show, and most of the characters have their own featured songs. With a strong director and a generous budget for a nice set, this could be a smash anywhere.

What a shame it was never recorded - the original cast featured Tessie O'Shea, Neva Small and a young Gary Beach!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 11:24pm

I love this show, which I know from my college days. Almost no one's ever heard of it, much less doing it. Great fun for fans of British humor

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 3:00am

I did this show in college- despised almost every minute of it. The material is VERY juvenile..but hey, we all do things we hate :) Let's hope you at least enjoy your castmates!
Best of luck!

[Footlooser]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:28pm

Does anyone know what licencing company owns the right to this?

[joeybiltmore1]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:55pm

I'm pretty sure it's Samuel French.

There was a also tv broadcast of it that may be available on video. Jean Stapleton was Miss Tweed.

[Footlooser]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 2:07pm

Thank You JoeyBiltmore!!!

[jasonvanemburgh]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 1:34pm

I did a regional production of it a few years back, playing Nigel. Cute show. I had my only "lost it on stage" moment during the run. The doctor answered the old pfashioned phone, which was rigged to spray poisong gas, and he said heloooo, and the talcum powder went directly into his mouth and then he died. But he kept coughing out the poweder for like 2 minutes after his death. I had to turn upstage, I was crying so hard. Thanks for reminding me of that fun memory!

[DTC]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 3:44pm

I remember seeing a college production where the poor guy singing "I've Got A Dinky Little Dinghy" didn't realize that his fly was down and part of his shirttail hanging out of it... we thought it was an intentional character choice at first...

[Footlooser]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 3:49pm

Than reminds me of when I was in Guys and Dolls. My friend Silas did that with tan pants and a turquoise shirt. FUNNY!!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 4:27pm

Yes, my favorite song is, "I've got a teeny little dingy".

As long as your group is willing to go all out on the set, it's a very fun show.