Audience chooses murderer in OTA whodunit

SEQUIM — Olympic Theatre Arts will kick off its 2023 season with a musical mystery comedy, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” which begins Friday.

Based on Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel, the play allows the audience to vote on who did it, who solved it, and who the secret lovers are. Each night is sure to have a different ending in this interactive romp, leaving audiences wanting to see it again and again.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. through March 26.

Tickets to the play at the theater, at 414 N. Sequim Ave., are $25 and available online at olympictheatrearts.org or by calling the box office between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

The play, the winner of 10 Tony Awards and nine Drama Desk Awards, invites the audience to solve its mystery by choosing the identity of the murderer.

The tale is presented as a show-within-a-show, as the Music Hall Royale — a loony Victorian theatre company — presents Dickens’ brooding mystery.

Musical numbers include “Perfect Strangers,” “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead,” “Off To The Races” and “Moonfall.” The original book for the musical was written by Rupert Holmes, who is best known for The Pina Colada Song.

Olympic Theatre Arts Production is directed by Greg Scherer and musically directed by Steve Humphrey.

The show will take place in the Elaine and Bob Caldwell MainStage Theatre, which has been going under some major renovations to kick off the new season.

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