Head to the 'burbs' for over-the-top comedy

Theater Scene column by Carol Moore

This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, April 6, 2007

Whether you're a mystery aficionado or not, you will enjoy "Something's Afoot," an entertaining spoof of the British country house mystery, playing at the Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace.

If you enjoy mysterious (and very funny) musical melodrama, with over-the-top stereotypical characters, booby traps, puns and double entendres, then this show is for you.

Lord Rancour's Butler, Clive (Mark R. Mahallak), Maid, Lettie (Susie McMonagle), and Caretaker, Flint (Michael Accardo), welcome the guests arriving for a weekend at his country house which is on a small island in the middle of a lake. The guests include his ex-wife, Lady Grace Manley-Prowe (Iris Lieberman), his dissolute nephew, Nigel Rancour (Jim Rank), the family doctor, Dr. Grayburn (Roger Anderson), retired Colonel Gillweather (Don Forston), ingénue, Hope Langdon (McKinley Carter), and amateur detective, Miss Tweed (Liz Pazik).

Soon after Clive announces that Lord Rancour had died, he also dies, the victim of a booby trapped newel post. Finally, an uninvited stranger, Geoffrey (Jon Cummmingham) wanders in just as a sudden storm knocks out the bridge.

With the butler already dead, proving that the "butler didn't do it," the title song "Something's Afoot" laments that fact while setting the very funny scene.

The British music hall music reinforces both the puns and the melodrama. Imagine if you can a song about escaping in a "Dinghy!".

"Something's Afoot" is hilarious, a definite must-see. It's worth the drive to the Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace between now and May 20. FYI: (630) 530-0111 or (312) 599-1212, www.ticketmaster.com or www.drurylaneoakbrook.com.

"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" opens tonight and plays through April 22 at Footlight Players, Michigan City. FYI: (219) 874-4035.

"Fraternal Instinct," Diamante Productions, Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, plays through May 6. FYI: (312) 902-1500 or any Ticketmaster outlet.

Take your family to An Aesop's Fables Musical, "How Can You Run with a Shell on Your Back?" Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier, Chicago, playing Fridays through Sundays, through April 22. FYI: (312) 595-5600 or www.chicagoshakes.com.

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