The first time I saw one of my musicals performed, it was at the Minor Latham Playhouse on the campus of Barnard College, right on Broadway, New York, New York. That’s Broadway, the street, not the commercial designation: most Broadway theatres aren’t on Broadway at all. The show was then called Pulley of the Yard, and it was the first act of a triple bill. There was a small orchestra.
Many years later, the title was changed to Murder at the Savoy, and there were five different productions in Great Britain. Three of these were at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The other two were in Newcastle, England, which isn’t very far away from Edinburgh.
I wrote book, music and lyrics in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan. Since the other parts of that triple bill were composed by Sullivan, some audience members were fooled into believing mine was too.
It’s a backstage murder mystery. An overture by Sullivan is interrupted by gunshots. A solemn announcement is made that Larry Dapple, the leading performer in tonight’s Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, is dead. His understudy is woefully underprepared. All looks lost.
Scotland Yard sends Detective Peter Pulley to solve the mystery: Who murdered Dapple? His understudy? His boss? His wife, who was having an affair? The man she was having an affair with? What about the person who discovered the corpse? Whodunnit?
The critic from The Scotsman awarded Murder at the Savoy five stars, and was inspired to write his rave in rhyme.
Twenty-five years after the New York premiere, Rupert Holmes, Fred Ebb, and John Kander’s Curtains opened on Broadway. It’s also a backstage murder mystery in which the detective is the main character. Hmm.
There's Gotta Be a Song 