How will ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ be solved at the Goodspeed? Holmes lets the audience decide

Rupert Holmes is a mystery. He also writes them. The songwriter, playwright and novelist is the author of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” the 1985 Broadway hit that is having a major new production April 5 through June 2 at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam.

Holmes is a pop culture chameleon who has written dozens of plays and musicals, created the cult TV series “Remember WENN,” written for Barbra Streisand and had his own pop hits.

Since the success of “Drood”, Holmes has written the theater mysteries “Accomplice” and “Curtains” and even adapted R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” series for the stage. He’s also penned several novels which, while technically not mysteries, really are mysteries. “Where the Truth Lies” explored the deep secret behind the break-up of a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis-like comedy team. “Swing” was a wartime thriller which contained a coded message in an original big band song on a CD included with the book. “Murder Your Employer: The McMaster Guide to Homicide,” about a school for austere assassins, was released a year ago, became a national bestseller and will lead to sequels.

Holmes’ biggest pop hit, “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” is also a mystery story of sorts, with a surprise romantic twist at the end. His song “Timothy,” a top 20 hit for The Buoys in 1972, is a perverse pop classic in which the title character, a miner, appears to have been eaten by his co-workers when trapped in a cave-in. “Timothy” is written for maximum “is that what they’re singing about?” impact.

Even his name evokes mystery. Born David Goldstein, he said, “When I was a songwriter, if your name was David Goldstein you changed your name.” He recalls someone in the music industry meeting him with this handshake greeting. “They tell me you’re David Goldstein. What’s your name?” He called himself Julian Gill for a year, then changed it again. The “Rupert” in his name is a nod to his British heritage. The “Holmes” is due to Sherlock.

Holmes has another theater project heading to Connecticut this year. A one-woman show he wrote, “All Things Equal: The Life & Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg” is on tour and will play the Westport Country Playhouse May 3-5. “I wrote it during COVID when I wasn’t sure how we’d do theater anymore. The actor, Michelle Azar, is astonishing. I love shows where the audience has a role to play, when you find a conceit by which this person is talking directly to you.” In the play, the late Supreme Court Justice is having a private conversation with a friend of her granddaughter.

Holmes was in East Haddam last month to meet the cast and creative team of the Goodspeed’s “The Mystery Edwin Drood.” He’s wanted to see the show done there for years.

“The Mystery Edwin Drood” is based on an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. Holmes’ ingenious solution to the book’s lack of an ending is to create a multitude of possible endings in which any one of eight different performers can be declared the murderer in the mystery, as voted upon by the audience. The show is performed as if it were being done by a theater troupe in Dickens’ time.

The musical was commissioned by Joseph Papp, founder of the New York Public Theater. He’d heard some of Holmes’ songs, which led to him attending one of his live performances.

“I was emphasizing comedy in the act,” Holmes explained. “I’d noticed that if you go to a concert of any band you like, you dread when they say ‘We’re going to play something from our new album.’ You want to hear the hits. But with a comedian, it’s the complete opposite. You’re disappointed if it’s old material. Now, most Rupert Holmes fans only knew two of my songs: ‘Escape’ and ‘Him.’ Doing an act where most of my songs were new to the listener, if I did comedy set-ups the audiences would be comfortable.

“Joe Papp saw that and said ‘You’re doing musical theater. Have you ever done a musical?’ I said I hadn’t, and he asked what musical I wanted to write,” Holmes recalled. “I said ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood.’ I wrote down every idea I had — a company putting on a play, Drood played by a woman — and brought it to them. The Public liked it, I said ‘I’ll come back with Act I’ and a year later they bought it.

“Joe Papp was the first person to pick the show’s ending,” Homes added. “Then, the day before we opened, he was a little panicky and said ‘I’ve got the answer: one ending!’ I said, ‘You mean the raison d’etre of the whole show was just abandoned?!'”

Papp got over his qualms and the unique finale remained.

Holmes calls the concept of sharing a mystery tale with the audience and then having them solve it dynamic.

“The cast members don’t know if they’re in the spotlight or the background,” he said. There are hundreds of possible combinations for the ending, including seven different prime candidates for who is the detective in disguise. Holmes said different productions can yield different responses from the audience and that he’s seen the most voted-upon candidates change during the run of a single production. “Originally, no one picked the sister and brother. In the 2020s it happens all the time,” he added.

The original Broadway production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” was not just mysterious but magical. The New York Public Theater had just had a hit with Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance” and its director, choreographer, scenic designer and even its model Major General (the ebullient actor George Rose) all made “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” their next project. “They all knew each other. I was an heir to all that. It was such an education for someone who had never done a musical before,” Holmes said.

The Goodspeed production is directed by Rob Ruggiero, also known as the producing artistic director of TheaterWorks Hartford. For some of the many shows he’s directed at the Goodspeed, Ruggiero has been charged with revising or updating them for current tastes and needs. For a revival of “Rags,” he was working with a heavily rewritten book and score. But for “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” Ruggiero promises a truly traditional production with no script changes. This version is in line with the 2012 revival at New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company.

He’s taking the traditional route because the director feels the musical’s historical time period is perfectly aligned with the vibe of the Goodspeed Opera House itself. “Looking at the British music halls where theater troupes like the one in this show would play, they look just like the Goodspeed,” Ruggiero said.

Rupert Holmes agreed. “I’ve always thought this is where ‘Drood’ should be.”

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” runs April 5 through June 2 at the Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main St., East Haddam. Performances are Wednesdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 6:30 p.m. $30-$86. goodspeed.org/shows/Drood.