Upstairs of the Shear Madness beauty shop, someone with a scissors has cut off landlady Isabel Czerny's life. Because the once-famous pianist had notified police she thought she'd be blackmailed, they're on the scene.
Everyone in the shop had a motive and chance, however short, to kill. What will Officer Nick O'Brien (hard-working Timothy C. Goodwin) find out about their pre-homicide goings-on? He will question not only the suspects but us, the audience, including during intermission.
Taking our advice, Goodwin's well-organized Officer proves a darling. Too bad he has a mostly dumb (except for lab reports) assistant, Mikey Thomas. (Nonetheless, earnest Jeremy Ellison-Gladstone makes him excusable due to youth and inexperience.)
Did "flaming" shop-owner Tony (get his surname!) Whitcomb end Isabel's disdain and noise? (How could she not love Michael Kevin Baldwin's quick quips, sustained silliness, and outrageous style as Tony?)
As Isabel's heiress, maybe Juliana Black's deliciously ditsy hairdresser Barbara cut her life off short. Or could she be in cahoots with good-looking, business-like Joseph Ditmyer's Eddie Lawrence, slick as his two names? We think we saw them kiss.
There's also mature, stylish, well-off Mrs. Shubert (sophisticated Lisa McMillan, not surprisingly an experienced theatrical Mame and Mama Rose). She's secretly (but not from us) made a suspicious phone call and is eager to get away.
We have fun amassing clues and letting go ahhs at good jokes and ooohs at stupid ones. Many hit the mark locally, but most have wider punch, and all stay up-to-date. Some may change, like our voted choice of murderer, in ensuing performances.
We love the mix of stable elements and improv. The palm-paper-walled shop is flamboyantly Floridian; the shampoo and set during performance, an added novelty. So are a few of the actors, the director, and of course script changes compared to a production of the show at FST last year. That run was oft-extended and performances are already being squeezed into the new schedule.
