‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ Onstage at The Playhouse; The Public Opens ‘A Christmas Story: The Play’ (Thurs., 12/7/23)

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (musical) by Rupert Holmes, from the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. Pittsburgh Playhouse Conservatory Theatre. Through December 10. 

In the category of weird and wacky stage musicals, The Mystery of Edwin Drood ranks high. Like Oliver!, it’s adapted from a Charles Dickens novel, except Dickens provided only about half of the story. When the author died in 1870, he had written just a few chapters beyond the point where Edwin Drood—a young man caught in a web of interpersonal dramas—vanished after a Christmas Eve dinner, with evidence pointing to murder. The mystery became a famous literary cold case, full of plot twists and loose threads left dangling. More than a century later, the pop singer and writer Rupert Holmes jumped in. Holmes turned the grim tale into a rollicking musical comedy in the style of London music-hall shows of the late 1800s. He also wrote numerous possible endings. The idea was that partway into Act II, each night’s audience would vote on who killed Drood as well as on other matters. Then the cast would play out the chosen denouement(s). A tricky concept, but it worked. The Mystery of Edwin Drood swept the 1985 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score. The Conservatory Theatre Company at Point Park University’s Pittsburgh Playhouse now invites you to get your Drood on for a rare local production. 7:30 p.m. 350 Forbes Ave., Downtown. (M.V.)

A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE PLAY (comedy) by Philip Grecian, adapted from the film and story by Jean Shepherd and others. Pittsburgh Public Theater. December 7 – 23.

Chances are, if you’re not familiar with the classic film about little Ralphie Parker whose holiday memories of freezing his tongue to a lamppost, witnessing his father’s obsession for roast turkey, or hoping against all hope (lest he shoot his eye out) to find that Red Ryder BB gun under the Christmas tree, you’ll want to attend any of dozens of other holiday events. But the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s production of A Christmas Story was so well received last year, it’s returning to the O’Reilly Theater again this December.  With a splendid cast and a setting reminiscent of small-town (could-be-Pittsburgh) Indiana, A Christmas Story is a sweet and sentimental journey of American values in the early 1940s. Pittsburgh Public Theater tickets go faster than a slide in Santa-land. 8 p.m. 621 Penn Ave., Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

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