Moose Murders

[magictodo123]

Posted: 7/1/19 at 7:29am

A few months ago I was looking up the shortest running shows. I came across Moose Murders, a play that opened and closed on the same night (I believe). Did anyone see it? I'm so curious about it!

[Huss417]

Posted: 7/1/19 at 11:47am

I saw it and have the Playbill in a frame. Trying to describe it would not make much sense. The laughs fell flat. I saw Holland Taylor. I believe Eve Arden lasted one preview. 

The Times review sums it up much better then I could ever. : )

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/23/theater/stage-moose-murders-a-brand-of-whodunit.html

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/1/19 at 1:01pm

I saw it and laughed my head off. It as outrageously bad, but hilariously so.

I much preferred it to the screeds, lectures, and tirades that pass themselves off as theatre nowadays.

More plays like Moose Murders, please!

 

[jpbran]

Posted: 7/1/19 at 2:44pm

Never knew Mara Hobel (young Christina from Mommie Dearest) was in this. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/1/19 at 9:46pm

I saw it and my opinion is that with a better title, it wouldn't have been a hit but it wouldn't have achieved its reputation as the "worst play ever to open on Broadway".

Some of the farcical scenes were actually very funny, akin to CLUE, or Joe Orton without the social commentary. Some--the murderer dressed as a moose comes to mind--were simply atrocious.

The biggest problem was that while Holland Taylor is a goddess, her deadpan style was totally at odds with the rest of the over-the-top production. I'm sure the same was true of Eve Arden.

It was very much a "WTF were they thinking?!" evening, but After Eight is right: there were plenty of the right kind of laughs as well as plenty of the wrong.

[Huss417]

Posted: 7/1/19 at 10:11pm

GavestonPS said: "I saw it and my opinion is that with a better title, it wouldn't have been a hit but it wouldn't have achieved its reputation as the "worst play ever to open on Broadway".

Some of the farcical scenes were actually very funny, akin to CLUE, or Joe Orton without the social commentary. Some--the murderer dressed as a moose comes to mind--were simply atrocious.

The biggest problem was that while Holland Taylor is a goddess, her deadpan style was totally at odds with the rest of the over-the-top production. I'm sure the same was true of Eve Arden.

It was very much a "WTF were they thinking?!" evening, but After Eight is right: there were plenty of the right kind oflaughs as well as plenty of the wrong."

We were definitely at different performances as the small crowd at mine was small because of the snow and were pretty much just in shock. The tap dancing kids taps were SO LOUD you couldn't hear much else when she was on. The laughs from our crowd sounded more like groans. And my opinion but I don't think a name change would have helped this show.

 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/2/19 at 12:42pm

When I was directing high school shows, I'd keep a copy of MOOSE MURDERS in my desk drawer
When I got that inevitable question about "what the next show would be," I'd hand them the script. It was also good for punishment assignments: read the play and write a 700 word essay about how the author developed the characters.

[tbonesbr]

Posted: 7/2/19 at 1:28pm

Wow, threads on Moose Murders and Got Tu Go Disco within days of each other. Not only did I see Moose Murders but I was the lawyer for the production as I was for Got Tu Go Disco. For the record, and since she has been long gone, the reason Eve Arden only lasted one preview was because she had a drinking problem and didn’t know her lines. She was the lucky one and didn’t have to continue with the show.  I believe June Gable wrote an article or even maybe a book on her experience in the show which you may be able to Google. 

[lachri5]

Posted: 7/2/19 at 2:12pm

Every few years we get a new Moose Murder post.
2006: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=902637
2008: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=963718
2010: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1020212
2012: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1046097
2013: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1055994

[Bigserver1]

Posted: 7/2/19 at 4:55pm

Reading about this makes me genuinely curious as to exactly how bad it could have been. People talk about the ending being awful but no one goes into detail about it. I am hovering over a $10 copy of the script on Amazon for my own morbid curiosity...

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/2/19 at 9:52pm

I don't exactly remember the ending, but I have the image of the hunter (I think he was the culprit) dressed as a moose etched in my brain. Or I should say "the image of a hunter dressed as a moose but carrying a shotgun".

***

Huss417, please note I didn't say a title change would have made a difference in the fate of the production. It was never going to run. What I said was that a better title would have made a difference in the show's reputation.

Notice the five, now six, threads on the play. They wouldn't have happened if it had been called Away We Go! 

Am I the only one who saw a little musical--straight from Mississippi with no changes in cast, creative personnel, or script--called Cleavage? I literally can't remember a single instant of it because it was so boring.

By contrast, Moose Murders had at least one great farcical scene with the tap-dancing child, and Holland Taylor was her reliable, charming self--however out of place she was in a "low" comedy.

Besides, how often do I get to type: "After Eight is right"? Well, this time he is!

[Huss417]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 12:12pm

GavestonPS said: "

Besides, how often do I get to type: "After Eight is right"? Well, this time he is!"

I have had them blocked for years so I might have missed something in between. :)