It was opening night for Jason Manford in Curtains a Musical Whodunnit last night, a show that not only has the mystery of a murderer on the loose in a theatre production but also have stunning musical numbers, a great looking set and a cast that all work wonderfully with each other to bring us an evening never to forget.
Curtains is a musical within a musical within a Christie-esque mystery when the star of a wild-west theme musical version of Robin Hood is murdered on opening night, everyone is a suspect and only one man can solve the crime, Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (Jason Manford).
Cioffi locks down the theatre and he sets his sights on solving the mystery, that has many twists and turns to hinder him finding the murderer and re-opening the theatre.
Curtains certainly has that real feel for a good whodunnit and I have to say that it had me guessing throughout the production about who the murderer was, but what makes the show different from other whodunnits is that this is a musical and at first thought I wasn’t sure it would work, but by gosh how wrong was I.
The opening scene of the musical that the is within the musical certainly sets you up for a night that will have you laughing and enjoying every moment, the majority of Curtains is set behind the stage on the stage, yes I know how weird is that, but this works brilliantly bringing the production to life and taking you into the mystery of murder, blackmail, comedy and music.
The set design looks brilliant along with the lighting that produces some amazing scenes for moments of mystery, add the amazing musical pieces and the comedic lines from not on Jason Manford but also from many of the cast, Curtains is perfect for a good night out.
When it comes to the cast, I would have to say that Jason Manford did stand out for me, I love his stand-up performances so it was a delight to see him not only performing on the stage at Venue Cymru but to also hear him sing and wow is he brilliant at that, his musical moments were a pure delight to listen.
With so many in the cast of Curtains, it is hard to not write this review without mentioning everyone that is in the musical whodunnit as they all bring such amazing performances to the production.
After the first half of the show, I was blown away and even tweeted out that if the second half was as good as the first then I couldn’t wait.
Suffice to say I wasn’t disappointed by the second half either.
Jason Manford is joined on the stage by musical theatre actress Carley Stenson, who is probably best known for her television work and playing ‘Steph Cunningham’ in Channel Four’s “Hollyoaks” plays ‘Georgia Hendriks’, Rebecca Lock as ‘Carmen’, Samuel Holmes as ‘Christopher Belling’, Samuel’s West End credits include “Mrs Henderson Presents” at Noël Coward Theatre and “Spamalot” at Playhouse Theatre, Leah West, previously starred in Disney’s film ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ITV drama ‘Unforgotten’, as ‘Niki Harris’ and Alan Burkitt as ‘Bobby’.
They are all joined by Emma Caffrey as ‘Bambi’, Adam Rhys-Charles as ‘Daryl Grady’, Martin Callaghan as ‘Oscar Shapiro’, Minal Petal as ‘Johnny Harmon’ and Mark Sangster as ‘Sidney’.
Curtains A Musical Whodunnit is on at Venue Cymru until 8 Feb 2020, tickets available from venuecymru.co.uk or the Box Office on 01492 872000.
Curtains a Marvellous Production
Event Title: Curtains A Musical Whodunnit
Event Description: Jason Manford stars in a magical mystery of music and murder at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, North Wales.
Start date: February 4, 2020
End date: February 8, 2020
Location name: Venue Cymru
Address: Promenade, Llandudno, LL30 1BB
Performer: Jason Manford
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
