Review: Music, Murder, and Mayhem at THE SAVOYARD MURDERS by The Roustabouts Theatre Co.

Murder!  Music!  Mayhem! Welcome to THE SAVOYARD MURDERS from The Roustabouts Theatre Co. which is a love letter to Gilbert & Sullivan, theatre, and murder mysteries.  This world premiere is playing at the Scripps Ranch Theatre through September 30th.

For those that don’t know, Savoyard is a term for someone who is a fan of Gilbert & Sullivan and stems from the fact that those shows were produced at the Savoy Theatre in London in the 1800s.  In this case, our main Savoyard is theatre critic Tiberius Spriggs (Phil Johnson) a man so devoted to G&S that his flat is decorated in their show posters (it’s also fun to see the ways Johnson is depicted in them). 

Spriggs is throwing a party and has assembled a seemingly odd mix of guests to attend. There is diva actress Rowena Rawlings (Taylor Henderson), high society and very opinionated widow Desdemona (Wendy Waddell), unemployed touring actor Cyrus Schock (Durwood Murray), stage director Balthazar Bellwood (Daren Scott), and sweet hat maker Ezra Dribble (Eliott Goretsky). Once all have appeared Spriggs excitedly informs them all that they will be playing a game, a game called ‘Murder”.  Considering that this was in fact a real parlor game people played it sounds less suspicious to the party guests than it may to the audience.

With the help of his faithful butler Grizzle (David McBean) Spriggs sets the scene with tales of suspicious murders that have happened to multiple murder victims (all McBean) and how there is a strong G&S connection theme.   The mystery mounts, the drama rises, and since most are theatre people no one seems too concerned except for sweet Dribble who doesn’t have the ego to be as oblivious as the others.  He just wants to eat his fairy cakes (cupcakes) and seems dazzled to be included.

Co-directed by playwright Omri Shein and Johnson, they keep the show's tone playful and lean into the silliness of it all. All of the performers are game and are fully committed to this madcap murder mystery.  

Johnson’s Spriggs always has a slightly mad twinkle in his eye, Waddell’s widow may not approve of the stage but she is a natural scene stealer, and Henderson’s diva is very funny and refuses to be upstaged.  McBean as the butler and all of the varied murder victims are delightfully entertaining as them all.

This all plays out on a drawing room set designed by Yi-Chien Lee, in character-defining and colorful costumes by Jennifer Brawn Gittings (Gorestsky’s director has so many medals on his jacket you expect him to break out into ‘Modern Major General” at any moment).  All are complemented with the lighting by MichelleMiles, original music by Daniel M. Lincoln with sound design by Paul Durso.

While the show does have a lot of Gilbert and Sullivan and general theatre references, you don’t need to be a fan of either to find this romp entertaining.  The first act takes a long time to truly ramp up, and the second act moves by much faster, overall it would benefit from a bit of editing to make it feel more balanced. The murder's final unmasking seems to go by a bit too fast to truly feel satisfying, but the final moment leaves the audience laughing. 

Who will survive the game? What does this group of people have to do with it all?  Are theatre critics all inherently mischievous and slightly suspicious? Will they all figure out who the murderer is and why they are on a rampage?  Well, you won’t know unless you go…

How To Get Tickets

THE SAVOYARD MURDERS from The Roustabouts Theatre Co. is playing at the Scripps Ranch Theatre through September 30th. For ticket and showtime information, visit the link below.

Photo Credit: Ken Jacques