Towson High Takes On 'Drood'

For a little over a month behind the doors of auditorium have been students in costume running up and down the aisles, partaking in what seemed like a teenage rebellion.

But, in reality, they were just energetically rehearsing their roles in the school's latest production, a 1986 Broadway musical based on Charles Dickens' last book, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood."

Beginning today through Saturday, those attending Towson High school's production of Drood will be in for what director Joseph Kimball calls a "zany" show.

"It’s very different," Kimball said. "If you haven’t experienced a show like this where the cast is very much interactive with the audience, where the show intentionally is making fun of itself, then it’s a different type of show and it’s a really challenging, difficult show."

The musical, which debuted in the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1985 and won several Tony awards, including Best Musical, takes its audience into the London Music Hall Royale, where the amateur actors prepare to put on their version of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" for the crowd.

Amid breaking characters, forgotten lines and the repetition of poor performances (which is actually a part of the script), the actors depict the tale of Edwin Drood, who is to marry his fiancee, Rosa Bud. But it seems that Rosa has more admirers than her betrothed—and they would do anything to have Rosa as their own, including murdering anyone in their way.

As the plot thickens, Edwin ends up dead, but since Dickens died before he could finish his mystery novel, no one knows who killed Edwin Drood.

It is a "whodunit" musical where the audience decides how it ends. But to help you choose your ending, chairman William Cartwright, played by junior Matthew Coplai, guides the audience throughout both acts. As the chairman of the of the production company of actors, Coplai is found always on stage with the exception of when he must fill in a role of the play, as another character, Mayor Thomas Sapsea.

"[The chairman] is really outgoing and outlandish --I usually play villains and other darker characters, so it’s fun to play a fun and upbeat, energetic character," Coplai said.

According to Kimball, the mistakes the student actors make are all within the script because it is a "play within a play." All characters have two roles, which they have been practicing, making it that much more challenging of a production.

"There’s a character in the story of Edwin Drood and then there is a character in the production company and at various points people breakout of character and become their other character," Kimball said,  "So, there are some things that look like mistakes, that actually aren’t mistakes—they’re in the script."

"It’s supposed to look that way, which is part of why this show is different, why it’s not like every other show you’ve seen. You never know what you’re going to find," he added.

Senior Christie Smith, who plays both Rosa Bud and Miss Deirdre Peregrine, has been in Towson's productions since her freshman year, and she has never been a part of a musical like Drood before.

"It’s a play within a play where the audience chooses the ending --those two things right there make it pretty original," she said.

In addition, Smith said the singing is significantly harder than anything she has ever encountered.

"I hit some pretty high notes and there are a lot of tough harmonies, but I love that it’s challenging," she said.

As for senior Tanner Blaize, who plays one of Rosa Bud's secret admirers and Drood's uncle John Jasper, he hopes after being a part of what will be his final production at Towson, he will continue his career in acting in the future.

"This is not the dumb-down version of Drood, this is the actual  Broadway version and most high school’s get the high school edition," he said, "so it’s much more difficult—professional level difficulty."

The musical begins Thursday night and runs through Saturday. All shows are at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.