A musical, a murder, a musical within a musical. From the opening number, the audience was laughing in the aisles. Fountain Hills Theater’s Artistic Director, Peter J Hill, has provided us with another great live theater experience. Curtains is a must-see production.

Opening in Boston on its way to Broadway, the musical, Robbin ‘Hood of the Old West, is a disaster because the famous leading lady, Jessica, played delightfully over-the-top by Stephani McDonald, can’t sing or remember her lines.

At the end of opening night, a bouquet of flowers does her in. Who did it? More important to the actors, who gets to play her part? It’s all up to the show’s producer, Carmen Bernstein, dynamically portrayed to the hilt by Leslie Haddad.

Enter Boston Police Detective Frank Cioffi, a star-struck amateur actor/detective, performed by Michael Stewart who immediately demands our attention with his tour de force performance.

There is an immediate attraction between Cioffi and Nikki, delightfully rendered by Karylin Veres. The search for the killer, a new leading lady, and a fix for the troubled show takes us through some great songs and dances.

Princess Kickapoo’s solo by Erin Ryan (Bambi) is particularly well done, but all the choreography by Noel Irick is outstanding. There are so many wonderful performances it is impossible to mention them all. The staging of the song “He Did It” is very clever. Eventually, the play is fixed and the murder is unveiled. You will never guess who did it!

Excellent singing and dancing by a truly talented cast, combined with the Tony-nominated score by the writers of Chicago and Cabaret, make for a fun night out. Curtains runs for the next two weekends, Thursday through Sunday, at our Fountain Hills Theater. Don’t miss it!