A CONCORD THEATRICALS TITLE

The Butler Did It, Singing

Full-Length Musical, Comedy  /  5w, 5m

Book by Tim Kelly
Music by Arne Christiansen
Lyrics by Ole Kittleson

This is a delightful, audience pleasing, one-set, musical spoof based on Mr. Kelly's enormously popular hit The Butler Did It. Miss Maple, a flaky society dowager, invites a pack of zany detective writers to a spooky house on an isolated island and forces them to impersonate their fictional…

The Butler Did It, Singing

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    5w, 5m
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Adaptations (Stage & Screen), Mystery/Thriller, Parody / Spoof

Details

Summary
This is a delightful, audience pleasing, one-set, musical spoof based on Mr. Kelly's enormously popular hit The Butler Did It. Miss Maple, a flaky society dowager, invites a pack of zany detective writers to a spooky house on an isolated island and forces them to impersonate their fictional sleuths. For entertainment, she arranges some "classic" touches - a hairy face at the window, the threat of an escaped lunatic, no communications with the outside world. What she did not arrange was the body on the sitting room carpet! It's up to seedy Chandler Marlowe to solve the bizarre case and he makes a side-splitting mess of it! Ultimately, everyone has a guilty secret to confess and the real killer turns out to be the least suspected.

The happy score is dotted with likeable and show-stopping hits: "Murder, Mystery and Mayhem," "The Moth to the Flame," "Cherchez La Femme," "I Know My Stuff," and, of course, "The Butler Did It," among others. Production demands are extremely modest and the cast of ten can be expanded if desired.

Keywords
HAVERSHAM - A young housemaid, an ex-convict
RITA - A social secretary
MISS MAPLE - A well-known society hostess
FATHER WHITE - A mystery writer
CHANDLER MARLOWE - Another
LOUIS CROISSANT - Another
RICK - Another
LAURA - Another
PETER FLIMSEY - Another
CHARITY - Another
SERVANTS - Chorus (Optional)
  • Time Period Present Day
  • Setting Ravenswood Manor, an isolated estat on Turkey Island, off the coast of San Francisco
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Music

Act 1
MURDER, MYSTERY, MAYHEM
- Miss Maple, Haversham, Rita, (Staff)
SUCH A WITTY COUPLE - Rick, Laura, Guests
WHAT'S HER GAME - Detectives
MURDER IS MY BUSINESS - Chandler
THE MOTH TO THE FLAME - Father White, Laura
THE BUTLER DID IT - Company

Act 2
I KNOW MY STUFF - Charitu
CHERCHEZ LA FEMME - Peter, Male Detectives
I AM LOUIS CROISSANT - Louis
REVELATIONS - Company
FEMME FATALE - Mabel
Reprise: THE BUTLER DID IT - Company
1 Piano-Conductor
1 Alto Saxophone
1 Tenor Saxophone
1 Trumpet
1 Drums
1 Guitar
1 Bass
  • Orchestra Size Medium

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

Music Rentals

Concord offers a full suite of resources to help you put on the show of a lifetime!
1 Piano-Conductor
10 Vocal Books

1 Alto Saxophone
1 Tenor Saxophone
1 Trumpet
1 Drums
1 Guitar
1 Bass
1 Piano-Conductor
10 Vocal Books

Add-Ons

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Authors

Tim Kelly

Kelly was born in Saugus, Massachusetts on October 2, 1932. He graduated from Emerson College with a bachelor's degree and received a masters degree in play-writing from Yale University. His first stage play was Widow's Walk, published in the 1960s. At the same time, three of ...
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Author

Arne Christiansen

Author

Ole Kittleson

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