author: Anthony Case
New experiences can be a tad scary. That’s how I felt going into a theater I had only heard of in passing, in a school I had never heard of, for a show I’ve never heard of, in 10 degree weather. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see an utterly charming show in a very welcoming environment. Situated in what I assume is the gymnasium of the Watershed School, on the campus of St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church, St. Gabriel Miracle Players have put together a show that had me smiling for pretty much the whole runtime. Something’s Afoot, with Direction by Ken Berry, Music Direction by N. Kay Lenhart, and choreography by Deb Carson, is a fine night at the theater. Most of the crew has a part in the show, and the “let’s put on a show” energy is absolutely marvelous, to take my verbiage from the show.
Though it is somewhat clear the budget might not be as high as some touring productions, you would never know it from looking at the set. Even without all the moving pieces (done through some very smart stagecraft), the set makes the stage look huge, especially with the two back staircases. The lighting, which illuminates the stage in warm whites, really adds to the atmosphere of an extremely upper class 1930s British home. Of course, what helps with all this is a united vision from the direction, and Ken Berry sure has that. It helps that he is responsible for not only directing the show, but also for the Lighting Design (alongside Bob Frank), Set Design, Props (with N. Kay Lenhart and Hugh Carson), and costumes (with N. Kay Lenhart, Deb Carson, and Sally Kahn). And he plays what is arguably the second lead part in the show. The man is busy, much like his overworked yet revolting character of Flint. He doesn’t play up the truly vile aspects of the character, and while this could have added to the comedy, it does make the part perhaps a bit easier for the audience to follow. I envy Berry’s work ethic, as he is able to show such skill in all of these roles.
Berry’s wife, N. Kay Lenhart has done a wonderful job as the music director for this production. The score to this show is unusual, consisting of only the singers’ voices and a single piano, and is in a 1930’s style that is very unusual for the theater. The voices blend together very well in the group numbers, and even the most intricate of harmonies are handled with mastery by the cast. She is also responsible for the sound design. And while the sound is not always balanced in a perfect way, the sound effects and vocal effects she has chosen have done a really good job creating a mysterious atmosphere. Also, her pre-show and intermission speeches were utterly charming, and really helped me settle into the story that was about to unfold.
This is a show with 10 different, yet very important characters (with an additional character that is never seen by the audience). As such, the characters are specifically designed to evoke the stock characters found in both 1930s mysteries and British comic plays. The first characters introduced, June Frank’s Lettie, Ken Berry’s Flint, and Sam Wright’s Clive work as a sort of comic team. The overworked yet undermotivated Flint chases after the sarcastic yet beautiful Lettie and is admonished by the stuffy Clive. Each play their parts well, and have their own clearly defined motives for being there. Even the smallest of them gets plenty of moments to sell a completely ridiculous line in a wonderfully deadpan way.
The guests arrive and very quickly let the audience know how they will play their parts in the show. While the actors do a great job building these characters up, I also want to shout out the costumes, that really set each of the characters apart visually, which helps when you introduce 6 new characters in under three minutes. The first in, Sydney Pelletier’s Hope, sings a lilting melody about how marvelous the mansion is. Her soprano rings out beautifully, and her airy line deliveries are perfect for the loving parody of Anything Goes’ Hope Harcourt. Often matched with her, Johnny Drew’s Geoffrey is the mysterious stranger. The danger of the character is very much through another character’s misunderstanding of the situation they find themselves in, and he quickly joins the cast as just another party guest. Drew has fantastic chemistry with Pelletier, which makes the scenes with the two of them an absolute delight. The humor in his character is very dry and very British, and Drew is absolutely up for this challenge. He delivers quite a few acidic remarks with a perfect amount of condescension and sass. One note on his character, though. For quite a while, he wears a cut off college sweater and short khaki shorts. While pretty much every other costume had at least the feeling of something period, this really stood out as anachronistic. I get that we can only use what we have as theater artists, I do not think this costume was the best choice.
Douglass Korula’s Nigel is the greedy heir-apparent to the master of the house’s fortune. Korula’s performance starts out as a manipulative schemer, but a pathetic nature to his character is pretty quickly revealed. He finds a really good balance of these two sides, and his solo number t stands out as a comedic highlight of the piece. On the other side of the character spectrum, Heidi Toll’s Dr. Grayburn is probably the least selfish character in the show. The character is probably the least developed character of the bunch within the script, but Toll does a great job giving the character not only a sense of warmth, but also a very fun “over it” attitude that really helps to differentiate her character from the others.
Another often paired couple within the show is Deb Carson’s Lady Grace, the ex-wife of the mansion’s owner, and Hugh Carson’s Colonel Gillweather, a retired military man. The two have an amazing chemistry together, as well they should. The two actors are married in real life. This real world connection adds depth to the characters’ duet, “The Man with the Ginger Mustache.” That being said, each of their characters feel like well rounded individuals as well. I appreciate Gillweather’s utter glee breaking through his stuffy demeanor whenever he is put in charge of a mission, as well as Lady Grace’s almost palpable resistance to being pulled into the musical numbers (which, of course, she always is). Deb Carson also acts as the Assistant Director and Choreographer. While the moves she has developed for these numbers have a really good sense of spacing and are simple enough for most non-dancers to follow, I did see some actors unsure about the sequence, which did take me out of the scene a few times.
Probably the biggest driving force in the show is the amatuer detective, Terri DePaola’s Miss Tweed. Seemingly fed on Agatha Christie novels and Sherlock Holmes stories, Tweed does her best to show she is absolutely the smartest person in the room. DePaola has an absolute blast playing this character, leading the survivors on lengthy explanations of her theories that are only about half right most of the time. Her confidence shines through her character, and the embarrassed reaction whenever she knows she got something wrong is an absolute riot. As are her two songs extolling the British spirit and her own love of Agatha Christie. It’s a very good comedic performance that really helped propel this show to its best moments.
I will say there were a few scenes that felt a little oddly paced. Maybe they could have used just a little more rehearsal time so they could get the speed necessary for these moments. That being said, the show is absolutely worth your time. If the main mystery of your upcoming weekend is how to escape this bitter cold, I’d say a good solution would be to go see Something’s Afoot at St Gabriel Miracle Players.
Running Time: Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes with one intermission
Something’s Afoot plays through January 26th 2025 with St. Gabriel’s Miracle Players— 6950 Dogwood Road in the Milford Mill neighborhood of Baltimore, MD. Tickets can be purchased at the door, by calling the box office at (410) 747-5626 or by purchasing them in advance online.
