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''Curtains'' is a musical with a book by Rupert Holmes, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander, with additional lyrics by Kander and Holmes. Based on the original book and concept by Peter Stone, the musical is a send-up of backstage murder mystery plots, set in 1959 Boston, Massachusetts and follows the fallout when the supremely untalented star of ''Robbin' Hood of the Old West'' is murdered during her opening night curtain call. It is up to Lt. Frank Cioffi, a police detective who moonlights as a musical theater fan to save the show, solve the case, and maybe even find love before the show reopens, without getting killed himself. The show opened on Broadway to mixed reviews, though several critics praised the libretto and the character of Lieutenant Cioffi, who famed critic Ben Brantley called "the best damn musical theatre character since Mama Rose in 'Gypsy', and the best role of David Hyde Pierce's career." ==Production History== Stone died in April 2003, leaving the book unfinished, and Holmes was hired to rewrite it.〔(The Journal News )〕 Ebb also died before the musical was completed. ''Curtains'' had its world premiere on July 25, 2006 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Local reviews were mixed but not discouraging,〔(Did L.A. Critics Think Kander & Ebb's Curtains Was Ready for Broadway? ) broadway.com〕 and the producers decided to transfer the show to Broadway with minor alterations. The production, directed by Scott Ellis and choreographed by Rob Ashford, opened on Broadway on March 22, 2007 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The cast included David Hyde Pierce, Debra Monk, Karen Ziemba, Edward Hibbert, Jason Danieley, Noah Racey, Jill Paice, Megan Sikora, Michael X. Martin, Michael McCormick, and John Bolton reprising the roles they played in Los Angeles, as well as new cast member Ernie Sabella. The musical garnered eight Tony Award nominations, with Hyde Pierce winning the award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. ''Curtains'' closed on June 29, 2008 after 511 performances and twenty-three previews.〔Jones, Kenneth.("It's Curtains for Curtains; Murder Mystery Musical Will Close June 29" ), playbill.com, March 19, 2008〕 The musical received mixed reviews on Broadway, with Ben Brantley writing in ''The New York Times'': "David Hyde Pierce...steps into full-fledged Broadway stardom with his performance here...Perhaps this switching of creative horses accounts for the enervation that seems to underlie the lavish expenditure of energy by a top-of-the line cast that includes Debra Monk, Karen Ziemba and Jason Danieley. Brightly packaged, with ''Kiss Me, Kate''-style sets by Anna Louizos and costumes to match by the industrious William Ivey Long, ''Curtains'' lies on the stage like a promisingly gaudy string of firecrackers, waiting in vain for that vital, necessary spark to set it off."〔Brantley, Ben. "Stagestruck Sleuth, Crazy for Clues and Cues", ''The New York Times'', March 23, 2007, SectionE, p.1〕 Clive Barnes wrote in the ''New York Post'': "Part of the trouble was director Scott Ellis' failure to italicize sufficiently the inside comedy, but there probably wasn't much he could do. The choreography by Rob Ashford was unnoticeable, the scenery by Anna Louizos uninterestingly ugly, while William Ivey Long unwisely saved his best and funniest costumes for the curtain calls. Through all this farrago, Hyde Pierce moved (or, in that curtain call, "rode") with unshatterable aplomb - taking the basically comic concept of a tough plainclothes detective as a musical comedy queen, and running with it just as far, and even a bit beyond, as the material could take it.〔Barnes, Clive.("'Curtains' Not A Draw" ) ''New York Post'', March 23, 2007〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Curtains (musical)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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