The story of a fame-thirsty serial killer who lurks in the shadows of his own disguises gets a musical treatment at Live Theatre Workshop.
The company opens “No Way to Treat a Lady” this weekend.
The musical comedy is based on William Goldman’s novel, which was made into a film starring Rod Steiger in 1968.
“The movie was supposed to be a mystery thriller,” said Annette Hillman, who is directing the production.
“The way the musical is adapted is to add a lot of comedy. It is so smart and sophisticated, and I think it’s a show that everyone would like — the characters are engaging, clever and versatile.”
The cat and mouse: Christopher Gill is a publicity-hungry actor-turned-killer, and Morris Brummell is a mundane detective.
“Christopher Gill is an unemployed actor with some mother issues who is seeking out publicity and fame,” said Hillman.
Auditions have produced no jobs. So he decides his road to fame will be as a serial killer who employs his actorly skills to transform into a variety of characters to woo and kill his victims.
“Those cases fall into the lap of our hapless detective, Morris Brummell, who also has mother issues and is seeking publicity and fame,” said Hillman.
The cast is small — just four. Amanda Gremel plays all the victims. Kit Runge takes on the detective role, Steve Wood is our ambitious killer, and Janet Roby is Sarah Stone, described as a “modern-day Carole Lombard.”
Although the musical has a dark plot, Hillman and the cast plan to instill a light, comedic and theatrical tone in their performances.
“The score and dialogue are really clever and so as long as you really listen to what the writer was saying, you grab all the comedy that you can,” Hillman said. “It’s not a script where people think they’re really getting murdered, obviously. We have one woman who plays all the victims. We’re not fooling anybody; we just want people to have fun with it.”
Runge, who is a regular on Tucson’s musical stages, thinks the play is a kind of theatrical romp with wide appeal.
“It’s got so many aspects of great musical theater,” he said. “There’s drama, comedy romance, there’s violence. ... But other than that, it’s pretty family-friendly.”
