Romance. Tragedy. Primal Murder. The urge of revenge. This looks like a job for—
Well it isn’t Sherlock Holmes, that’s for sure! In a Christie? He would never!
Hercule Poirot, but of course! And ooh la la, ooh la la, ooh la la, does he have a case for you! Er— a show. Yes, that’s it! A show! Murder On The Orient Express, based on Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name and adapted to the stage by Ken Ludwig, is appearing now at Just Off Broadway for a limited, two-weekend engagement. Directed by Joey Hellman, this class-act cast of characters will keep you wondering just what’s happening aboard that train from the moment you hear the engine leave the station through to the very end. Balanced between the suspenseful drama of a true Agatha Christie whodunnit and the witty humors of Ken Ludwig, this production will keep you guessing.
Hats off (and pipes up and raise a toast) to Set Designer Theresa Bonvegna who has all but outdone herself with this moving, compartmentalized set. Bringing the Orient Express to life with its various compartments, doors, detailed décor, and ease of transition, Bonvegna (with Stage Manager Marcy Petrick as the show’s true train conductor) gets those scenic transitions moving expediently. This is critical for this particular production to be a success, as Ludwig’s script tends to have a more rapid cadence to it than your traditional Agatha Christie stage adaptation. Enhancing these swift switches are the sound design team of Patrick Jay Golden and Jason Crawford, who create era-appropriate music, mingled with train whistles, train chugs, steam engine sounds— the whole shebang, to create the illusion that as the scenes are moving, so too is the train, and so too the plot. Crawford and Golden also double up as lighting designers for the production, using focused lights for those little moments in the hotel restaurant, the dining car of the train— and most effectively the ‘fuchsia flush’ whenever we have to recall something in the penultimate scene of solving the crime. Golden teams up with Bonvegna to create the shows props— the most impressive one, in my opinion, being the rolling transistor radio box (complete with tea-strainer microphone!) for whenever Michele attempts to radio the various stations along their route. Costumes come as a team effort from the cast and a great many of them fill out their characters with fancy furs, glimmering jewels and flattering accessories that fit their personalities extremely well. This is especially true for all the frippery featured on both Princess Dragomiroff and Helen Hubbard.
Director Joey Hellman, working in tandem with the beautiful set Theresa Bonvegna has brought to life and his wonderful Stage Manager Marcy Petrick, does run a tight ship— er— train! The scenes are well-blocked, well-paced, and except for a few little “White Room” style hiccups from a performer here and there, you get the full effect of suspense rolling along, much like the Orient Express itself. Hellman finds the balance in Ludwig’s script, letting those little humorous relationships— or discordships— percolate between the various characters, which allows for a little bit of levity and humor amid the ominous encounters on the train. If there’s something troubling about the production it’s the AI-projections-video at the top of the show. While its purpose is understood and I’m sure it took projection designer Jason Crawford a great deal of time and effort to fabricate into being, it just puts that creepy-unsettling feel at the forefront of the production— and not the “ooh I’m about to experience a stage thriller” sort of verve but rather the “the future of AI might soon replace the actors on stage” sort of feeling. The voiceover work is good and more than sufficient and could have stood well enough on its own in a darkened theatre space, all things considered.
The cast as a whole treats the performance like an ensemble piece (right down to the final curtain call, which they all take together) and given the nature of the show, this feels incredibly appropriate. You got Hoss Parvizian who plays Michele the train conductor, with what is arguably the most authentic and consistent accent across the board— tackling that French sound with just a hint of working class pride. And while most of Michele’s scenes are featured at the transistor radio, you do get several moments of witty interaction and banter from Parvizian’s performance, particularly when it comes to engaging with, or rather fending off, the loud, mouthy, American character of Helen Hubbard. Also burbling along in the background is the quieter, mousier American character, Hector MacQueen (Patrick Jay Golden.) While his featured stage time, much like the Michele character, is somewhat limited, you get the sense that he’s just as suspicious as the rest of them.
Lovers— strangers on a train (wait, that’s a different story) or companions? Certainly lovers when it comes to Mary Debenham (Ashley Gerhardt) and Colonel Arbuthnot (Chris Thomas.) Gerhardt brings a sweet English sound to the character and does a superb job of looking timid, frightened, and then all around suspiciously nervous when undergoing her moments in interrogation. Could she be guilty? Could she be a red-herring? Could she just be nervous when people ask her questions directly? It adds to the overriding air of mystery that shrouds itself throughout the train. Thomas, who lilts back and forth between Scottish and Irish accents with his character, is mostly just sort of there— right up until his big, bombastic outburst, and it’s totally enthralling.
With the biggest, twisty-gray, broom-handle mustache— that’s almost comical to a fault, Jason Crawford tackles the iconic role of Hercule Poirot, adding that dash of French accent to his speaking, the posture and poise one expects from the infamous detective, and an overall sense of calculating intellect which never slips from his character’s façade. He has cheeky interactions with both Countess Andrenyi (Melissa Fortson) and has several exchanges of camaraderie with Monsieur Bouc (Randy Dalmas.) As the Train-Owner, Dalmas has some over-the-top reactions and facial expressions that serve the character well, particularly when things start to go awry on board. As the Countess, Forston’s performance is level and even; her scenes closer to the conclusion of the show are most impressive, considering the emotional fortitude that accompanies them.
The strongest ‘relationship’ amongst the cast of curious characters is perhaps that of companion Greta Ohlsson (Kelly Rardon) and Princess Dragomiroff (Ruta Douglas Smith), who could basically be called ‘Dragon Princess’ because of how icy, fiery, and frightening she is. Rardon perfectly embodies the scared, Swedish companion, whimpering and simpering every time something goes slightly out of sorts, and she manages to get under the Princess’ skin, up the Princess’ nose, and serve as an all-around delightful irritant because of her adorable, whiny innocence. Smith, as the frosty and rather haughty Princess, does a fine job handling her Russian accent (as fine a job as Rardon does with her Swedish sound) and her sniping, biting, one-liners, particularly when going at the mouthy-American on board, are simply priceless.
Truly a runaway train of her own fantastical magnitude, Robyn Bloom Yakaitis is just a comic, scene-stealing, scenery-chewing, hilarious cad that really puts all of Ken Ludwig’s humors on display. While Ashley Gerhardt and Kelly Rardon may be the queen of bringing histrionics from their characters, Yakaitis is queen of comedy, queen of obstreperous behavior, and truly marching around that stage like an entitled, mouthy American. She’s a pip with pluck and just enough of a social irritant to have everyone outraged. Her exchanges with the odious Samuel Ratchet (Leon Gray) are equal parts hilarious are her failed attempts to charm Michele into her compartment. Watching Yakaitis ‘Charleston’ at the top of her lungs (which does sound beautiful in its full belting bravado; you could take that either way with the character, where she’s more of a Florence Foster Jenkins or a true Broadway diva, and Yakaitis definitely has the chops and skillset to be the latter and does so divinely) flinging herself around that space in that feathery, garish red silk robe is a real scream. There’s a particular moment where Yakaitis’ Helen and Smith’s Princess Dragomiroff are up in each other’s faces with furious insults and Crawford’s Poirot is caught gormlessly annoyed between the pair. It’s one of the funniest moments in the show, led with vigor by Yakaitis and Smith matching her energy, insult for insult.
Ultimately a thrilling whodunnit, you get a chilling ending— even after you learn what really happened— when Poirot stands asking the audience was it “was it justice or was it right?” If you walk away considering that doing justice and doing what’s right may not be mutually exclusive, you will have benefitted greatly from this performance, in addition to all the charming characters you meet aboard The Orient Express.
Running Time: 2 hours with one intermission
Murder On The Orient Express plays April 26th 2024 through May 5th 2024 with Just Off Broadway at Epiphany Lutheran Church— 4301 Raspe Avenue in Baltimore, MD. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance online.
To read the Local Limelight interview, featuring Kelly Rardon, click here.
