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review
‘B’way Babylon’ outstanding
Kim Johnson - Thu, Dec, 11, 2008
Farragut High School’s performance of the Peter DiPietro’s murder mystery “Broadway Babylon” Dec. 4-7, was, in a word, outstanding.
Theatergoers were immersed in the production and made a part of the performance before even entering the auditorium, as students in character milled about the lobby offering drinks and hors d’oeuvres while everyone waited for the guest of honor, Dan Dapper, an aging Broadway sensation played by FHS sophomore Will Stone, to arrive for a surprise birthday party.
Before the party could begin, rising Broadway star Casey Miller, played by Alyssa Watson, was murdered, and everyone, including the audience, was a suspect.
The students played their roles to perfection, keeping the audience engaged and entertained, while completely improvising their roles based on audience reaction.
Danielle Phillips, as Polly Ester, an eccentric — to put it mildly — stalker of Dan Dapper who switched personalities from a street tough Jersey girl to screeching lunatic who fancied herself best friends with Scarlet O’Hara, was a crowd favorite.
The ease with which Danielle transitioned from personality to personality, while feeding off the audience, showed her versatility on the stage.
Another crowd favorite was Perry R. Smith as the cross-dressing gossip columnist Francine DuBois, who also was the killer during Saturday evening’s performance.
Perry was hilarious as the “wannabe” Broadway star who reinvented himself as a female gossip columnist when stage life didn’t work out for him.
Complete with four-inch heels, Perry worked the audience and kept them laughing while trying to cast suspicion on the rest of the cast.
Those familiar with FHS productions may have recognized senior Taylor Helmboldt in the character of Charles Smedley, the painfully shy comic book enthusiast looking for his big Broadway break, although this was Taylor as we had never seen him before.
Demonstrating his versatility on stage, Taylor, who has played such parts as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, Dracula in “Dracula” and Jud Fry in “Oklahoma!,” to name a few, and recently directed and stared in “The Last Five Years,” threw himself into the role with a gusto that belied his 17 years.
As the show progressed the audience was given clues as to the identity of the murderer, encouraged to talk among themselves to solve the mystery, and even, at one point, encouraged to bribe cast members with Monopoly money for additional clues to the case.
As more and more clues came to light the self-proclaimed “lead investigator” of the case, Sally Peabody, played superbly by Madison Cantrell, amassed a group of suspects, which included Polly Ester, Francine DuBois, Charles Smedley, Broadway agent Ralph Scumbo, played by Justin King, who ended up murdered as well before the evening was through, actress/singer wannabe Lolly Pop, played by Jackie Kalister, Dan Dapper, Ethel, a Broadway singer with a penchant for marrying well-to-do men, and a couple of audience members, Frank Murphy from Star 102.1 radio and Lane Miller from The University of Tennessee.
The suspects were dismissed one-by-one after providing alibis until only one remained, Francine DuBois.
It was discovered through several clues that Francine, AKA Frank, was the jilted lover of Casey Miller and killed her in a crime of passion. Francine also killed Ralph Scumbo because she/he “just didn’t like him.”
Although Francine was the killer on Saturday, each performance had a different killer so each audience would be surprised.
The evening was great fun and well worth the $10 ticket price.
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