Ahead of their transfer to the Edinburgh Fringe this August, the City Adventurers caught a double bill of musicals written and composed by Tom Rolph and Michael Rincon.
The Detective’s Demise
Fringe 2024 sellout murder mystery comedy musical. Detective Ben Stone is murdered at his own birthday party, snuffed out like a candle on a cake. Five suspects have means, motive and opportunity, but with Stone lying stone dead, sleuth Molly Evans must take on the investigation… watch as the ever more ridiculous motives of the suspects are uncovered one by one – until the killer is finally revealed…
Review
First up was a murder mystery comedy.
Detective Ben Stone is hosting a murder mystery party for his birthday. A bit of a bus-man’s holiday you may think. But things take a surprising turn when the host is actually killed! Which of his friends and family could have done it?
Enter sleuth Molly Evans, who is in line to replace Ben Stone at work, but is she up to the job?
The show was great with wonderful musical numbers and well crafted characters. The dead detective appeared throughout the play in flashbacks as the cast remembered interactions leading up to the fateful party.
Did we guess the murderer before the big reveal? Well, we were a bit distracted by the audience member sitting next to us to try to work out the guilty party. It was obvious they were a close friend of the cast; their uproarious laughter, excessive clapping, and especially their piercing whooping were so bad they were painful. They probably thought they were supporting their friends on stage but it made for an uncomfortable earsplitting endurance test for the person sitting next to them. Had to move during the interval as I couldn’t stand it any longer. Luckily the venue staff were understanding and found us a couple of new seats further away.
It’s a shame as, apart from that, the performance was good, the singing excellent and the play funny and entertaining.
Recommended for a visit if you are going to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Escape Room: The Musical
A new comedy musical about an Escape Room. Six college friends are tricked into reuniting at the debut performance of Escape Room: The Show. They must work out why, whilst trying to escape the room in front of you, the audience. Watch as their old issues resurface and new problems reveal themselves. Original songs, crazy characters and puzzling puzzles a-plenty.
Review
Next up, we settled into our new seats to watch this new comedy musical about an escape room. As avid escape roomers we were intrigued to see how the cast were going to portray an escape room experience on stage. The concept worked surprisingly well.
Unlike a normal escape room where the puzzles are the main focus, in this escape room the actual puzzles took secondary place. The main puzzles were
- who brought the gang back together after 2 years apart,
- why did they part 2 years ago and
- who is Pierre?
Having said that there were still puzzles to be solved and these were woven into the plot admirably. There was even a bit of audience participation thrown in.
Another good performance, with outstanding singing all around. However, Johnny with a Hat’s microphone problems meant a significant portion of his act couldn’t be heard.
If you are going to the Edinburgh Fringe, give it a go.
However, we felt the Detective’s Demise to be the stronger of the two plays.
Cast & Creatives
The Detective’s Demise
Nora Shields as Molly
Amy Langton-Smith as Kate
James Taylor as Alex
Kit Colville as Ben
Naomi Park as Lucy
Will Bartlett as Sam
Cameron Slade as Joe
Writer, Composer, Director, Musical Director: Tom Rolph
Writer, Composer, Musical Director: Michael Rincon
Choreographer Assistant Director : Hermione Lester
Escape Room: The Musical
Lily Ong as Olivia
Will Bartlett as Max
James Warner as Johnny with a Hat
Tom O’Brien as Johnny
Georgina Hart as Poppy
Naomi Park as Ellie
Kit Colville as Pierre
Writer, Composer, Director , Musical Director: Tom Rolph
Writer, Composer, Musical Director : Michael Rincon
Choreographer: Hermione Lester
Choreographer: Naomi Park
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The UK based Social Club for people who love visiting shows, exploring new places, discovering new things and solving mysteries.
Life is a journey so experience it’s adventure with like minded people. Live the life you’ve always dreamed of. City Adventurers Membership includes invitations to adventures and travel mainly in the UK.