Murphy and Dean's quick changes into Murrell Horton's smorgasbord of personality perfect outfits boggle the mind. The multiple roles and Rob Bissinger's stage filling, gun metal gray cityscape set make the four member cast seem much more expansive. Jeff Croiter's lighting pulls your eye to the focal points of the many short scenes and highlights the actors movements across the broad Consolati Performing Arts Center stage. Sandy Binion and Adam Heller complete the tight ensemble. Binion is well cast as Sarah Stone, the rich WASP who Morris meets and falls in love with while following up on the first killing.
All performers sing as well as they act.
While taking on book, music and lyrics has exemplified high risk multi-tasking in some recent musicals, Douglas J. Cohen, like Mr. Dean and Ms. Murphy, proves himself up to doing it all. Since the show will bring to mind such dark musicals as Chicago, City of Angels and Sweeney Todd , comparisons are also inevitable. Best of all, and most impressively, the goofy double plot and the musical score work really well together. A pair of sisters aged eight and eleven, who were visiting a neighbor and attended a preview, sent me off to the opening with their praises ringing in my ears Their opinion was confirmed by an informal exit poll of several other youngsters at the performance I attended. For a small company like Barrington Stage to put on two musicals in one season is quite a feat.