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Cloak and Dagger Or the Case of the Golden Venus – Signature Theatre

Jordan Wright
June 16, 2014
Special to The Alexandria Times
 

Fat Tony (Ed Dixon), Nick Cutter (Doug Carpenter) and Gino (Christopher Bloch) sing “Who Put the Mob In” in “Cloak and Dagger,”Photo by Margot Schulman.

Fat Tony (Ed Dixon), Nick Cutter (Doug Carpenter) and Gino (Christopher Bloch) sing “Who Put the Mob In” in “Cloak and Dagger,”Photo by Margot Schulman.

If you want to be cast in a major part, or nail half a dozen roles in the same production…and if you want the music to be heavy on the romance, comedy and pathos…maybe you should just write your own damn material which is exactly what Helen Hayes Award Winner Ed Dixon did.  He set out to create the perfect platform for his talents, penning the book, music and lyrics to Cloak and Dagger or The Case of the Golden Venus, now having its world premiere at Signature Theatre.  In his madcap homage to 1950’s film noir, Dixon wrote himself into over a dozen separate roles, giving Director Eric Schaeffer one hot hit.  The energetic four-person cast is listed as Man One, Man Two, Nick and Helena, but there are countless reincarnations by Man One played by Dixon, and Man Two, played by Helen Hayes Award Winner, Christopher Bloch.

The story:  Nick Cutter is a private dick on the downswing.  Holed up in a shabby one-desk office in Manhattan, his world is tanking when in walks sexy, sharp-tongued firecracker, Helena Troy.  (All puns intended by the playwright throughout.)  Helena is being chased by gangsters-with-gats led by her goombah fiancé, Fattoni, a deese-dems-and-dose lowlife in pursuit of a purloined solid gold Venus statue.  Can the adoring Nick save her from The Mob and solve the mystery of the statue?  Not before combing every nook and cranny of New York, from Chinatown and Little Italy to Canal Street and 42nd Street, and every hellhole in between.  “Follow the stench – cheap cologne and despair,” the frowzy landlady advises Nick as she tries to woo him in the tune “A Real Woman”.

Nick Cutter (Doug Carpenter, center) and Pinsky’s Chorus Girls sing “Shake Your Maracas” - Photo by Margot Schulman.

Nick Cutter (Doug Carpenter, center) and Pinsky’s Chorus Girls sing “Shake Your Maracas” – Photo by Margot Schulman.

“You may be onto to something,” Nick acknowledges.  “I’d like to be!” she retorts with a wink.  When he worries Helena might already be a corpse, she suggests, “I’m sure she’s alright unless she fell in holy water in direct sunlight.”  The gags come fast and furious and in a wealth of different accents.  You gotta keep up.

Doug Carpenter, an appealing and handsome lead actor with a matchless voice to boot, is Nick Cutter.  Some of the most moving numbers in the show are his – “The Worst of Times” and “The Best of Times”, the two opening numbers, and “Love Is” which comes after he’s fallen head over heels for Helena.  Another terrific song is “Opium” sung with Man One, Man Two, Nick and Helena.  It could easily spring Cole Porter from his grave dripping with envy.  Erin Driscoll is Helena.  Though her petite frame is somewhat overshadowed by the big galoots, she makes up for it as a belter who can sell a tune to a flock of nightingales…and does.

Helena Troy (Erin Driscoll) strikes a seductive pose in “Cloak and Dagger,”  -  Photo by Margot Schulman.

Helena Troy (Erin Driscoll) strikes a seductive pose in “Cloak and Dagger,” – Photo by Margot Schulman.

Behind a simple set of three doors, Bloch and Dixon weave in and out donning umpteen crazy costumes and emerging totally transformed in record breaking time.  It’s a bonanza of double entendres, men in drag (Dixon does a potty-mouth Mae West), and some vaudeville-style hoofing (in “An Agent”, Bloch conjures Jimmy Durante and dances to “Hava Nagila”).

As important as the jokes are, the music is even more critical.  And one way to gauge the value of a musical is not just by the score, but also by the lyrics.  Would a singer choose any of these songs for a nightclub or cabaret act?  Well, yes!  Dixon has given songsters catchy tunes, creative lyrics and romantic ballads to choose from.  There are nineteen numbers played by four musicians that trick us into thinking they’re an orchestra.  Twenty-two year old Jordon Ross Weinhold, one year out of grad school, did the orchestrations and he is a veritable whiz kid.

It’s a clever detective story done in burlesque. What’s not to like?

Through July 6th at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206.  For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.

Video Credit on Preview Video is James Gardiner and Justin Chiet

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