Each year, the Mentor Theatre program stages three shows – a fall and winter play and the highly anticipated spring musical. It’s 98th season is no different as director Mr. John Greene and his cast and crew look forward to the opening of this year’s musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  

The characters in the musical are brought to life by Mentor High students who have been rehearsing for months to put on the very best show possible. Countless hours have been spent with choreographer Marlene Leber and vocal director Lori Eppler in addition to director John Greene. The crew, meanwhile, has been building the set with Mr. Paul Gatzke and Mr. Mark Rotar, not to mention the countless hours spent at home preparing.

The Mentor Theatre website provides the following synopsis:

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a hilarious, interactive whodunit mystery musical that allows the audience to enter the action and become the ultimate detectives. The show is based on Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel of the same name. In the small town of Chesterham, England, the young and charming Edwin Drood has been mysteriously murdered. But by whom? His leering romantic rival, John Jasper? The infamous purveyor of opium and vice, Princess Puffer? The mysterious Landless twins, newly arrived from Ceylon? Or someone else even more dastardly and villainous? Dickens passed away before he was able to reveal the culprit. Rupert Holmes’ award-winning musical solves this predicament by asking the audience to choose which character is the killer by putting it to a vote. Staged in meta-theatrical manner by the Music Hall Royale, a traveling Victorian theatre troupe full of just as many colorful characters as the roles they play, this charming and inventive musical is sure to intrigue and entertain any musical or mystery lover.”

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is quite the transition from last year’s Sweet Charity, a change that the cast is looking forward to. Vince Muranda, who plays the role of Chairman this year, says that he is most excited for the costumes in The Mystery of Edwin Drood as “the vaudeville, Victorian era setting/scenery proposes a massive shift from last year’s 1970s New York setting.”

Chandler Mailhot portrays the Deputy, a young and enthusiastic boy.

“[I’m] really excited to hear the laughter and enjoyment from the audience,” Chandler says. “The show is very cheesy and filled with corny jokes.”

“[I’m] most excited to engage personally with the audience,” says leading lady Cordelia Klammer in her fourth Mentor Theatre leading role. “Not in the same way for other shows, but in a genuinely personal sense. The cast gets to walk through the house and audience and actually speak with the audience in 1870s English characters.” 

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the show is the role of the audience.

“In Act 2,” Klammer says, “the musical stops just before the killer is revealed. With this stop, the audience gets to vote on which character is the killer, along with who is the inquisitor and who are the lovers. The audience doesn’t just watch the show, but they write the show.”

According to Mentor Theatre’s instagram, there are 720 possible endings to this show, leaving the audience with a different conclusion every time!

You can buy tickets to the show by visiting https://mentortheatre.ludus.com/index.php. Tickets cost $10 for students/seniors and $15 for adults. The shows are on April 7, 8, & 9 at 7 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, April 10. 

Want more from Mentor Theatre? Check out their website at https://sites.google.com/a/mentorschools.org/mentor-theatre-info/home?authuser=0 or catch them on Twitter @mentor_theatre or Instagram @mentortheatre