Murder and Mayhem at Westbury Theatre

Alert the police. There’s a bunch of crazies at the Westbury Theatre eager to cop to a murder.

I’m kidding, of course. The crime is fictional and a fun diversion as Edmonton Musical Theatre’s year-end production, Murder and Mayhem runs tonight and from June 21 to 25.

In fact, the victim, a super rich hotel owner, is a floppy, life-size mannequin that drops from the ceiling and sets off a frenzy of greed.

This self-styled spoof of cheesy murder mysteries with its assorted calamities is thin on plot and borrows virtually every number from the Broadway catalogue.

It will never be ranked as a great musical, but the community theatre production lampoons with fun at virtually every turn.

Essentially, Richard Murphy, owner of the Grand Hotel, is murdered just as he is about to make a transformative announcement. Almost instantly detective Rock Mason and his sidekick appear to unravel the crime.

Through the 26 songs, woven together with sparse dialogue, we meet the daffy stock characters: a bitter, jilted wife; the lusty mistress; a petulant daughter; a naÄŹve son; a cruel orphanage mistress; a wacky chef; a charming but slightly twisted hotel manager; a self-serving board of directors and a dozen orphans.

There are more than 50 triple threat actors working at different levels of comfort and experience. Despite the challenges, director/choreographer Marie Nychka has forged a fairly polished cast in partnership with musical director Randy Mueller.

St. Albert has a reputation for developing musical theatre performers. In Murder and Mayhem seven local triple threats deliver plenty to savour.

Dressed in a three-piece suit with a red silk tie reminiscent of a Don Corleone henchman, Edward Medeiros as celebrity detective Rock Mason is every bit the skirt-chasing, publicity loving media hog.

In the one-upmanship number, You’re Nothing Without Me, where Mason verbally dukes it out with this sidekick, Medeiros creates a feisty, yet warm-hearted character.

Barb Hubbard as the spurned wife uses her lush soprano vocals to deliver an angry poison-pen tirade in If You Hadn’t But You Did.

Linda Hoddinott as an orphanage director is an oxymoron. She hates children and in Little Girls she delvers a humorous representation of a caregiver who cringes with disgust when bratty urchins hug her.

Jamie Johansson as the lawyer in charge of Richard Murphy’s will, takes the laugh meter up a notch in Reached For the Gun. Using a lap puppet, Johansson flexes her voice in the spirit of ventriloquism.

And the three Hall siblings, Danielle and Ereinne as waitresses and Liam as Murphy’s son deliver their own bits of the hard knock life. In particular, Danielle and Ereinne as a couple of murders in Cell Block Tango, pitch a very sexy and edgy black widow performance.

Murder and Mayhem is community theatre at its finest with just enough silliness to put a smile on your face.