“Murder for Two" at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre -- August 3 through 13.
Thursday, August 3, through Sunday, August 13
Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, 311 Riverview Drive, Clinton IL
Lauded by the New York Observer as “a hilarious musical whodunit” and by the New York Times as “ingenious” and “a snazzy double-act,” the tune-filled comedy Murder for Two closes the Clinton Area Showboat's 2023 summer season in high style, its August 3 through 13 run sure to demonstrate why NY1 called this clever, corpse-themed treat “a must-see 90-minute jolt of caffeinated creativity.”
In Murder for Two, Officer Marcus Moscowicz is a small town policeman with dreams of making it to detective. One fateful night, shots ring out at the surprise birthday party of Great American Novelist Arthur Whitney, and the writer is killed. With the nearest detective an hour away, Marcus jumps at the chance to prove his sleuthing skills with the help of his silent partner Lou. But whodunit? Did Dahlia Whitney, Arthur’s scene-stealing wife, give him a big finish? Is Barrette Lewis, the prima ballerina, the prime suspect? Did Dr. Griff, the overly-friendly psychiatrist, make a frenemy? Or was the murderer someone else entirely? Marcus has only a short amount of time to find the killer and make his name before the real detective arrives ... and before the ice cream melts.
With its book and lyrics by Kellen Blair and book and music by Joe Kinosian, Murder for Two premiered at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 2011, when it promptly won a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical. From 2013 to 2014, the show ran off-Broadway at the McGinn/Cazale Theater and New World Stages in New York, where it was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, as well as an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. Murder for Two then toured the United States in 2015, and beyond its national performances, the musical has been staged abroad in Canada, the United Kingdom, Argentina, and Chile. Among the show's many raves, the Denver Post called it "a two character feat of rapid-fire timing, piano playing, and silliness," while Los Angeles' Frontiers Media deemed Murder for Two "an ingenious and drop-dead funny play that wows on every single theatrical level."
The Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's Murder for Two runs August 3 through 13, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays and Wednesday at 3 p.m. Admission is $21-28, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)242-6760 and visiting ClintonShowboat.org.
