The digital magazine of New York indie theater
Loading

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET OF MAKING WHOOPEE

nytheatre.com review by Ivanna Cullinan
August 15, 2002

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret of Making Whoopee by Sean Cunningham is an amiable romp through Holmesian motifs. The game is afoot when, while suffering yet another of Holmes’ dissertations on his own brilliance, Dr. Watson ferrets out Sherlock’s dark secret. No, no, not the boring cocaine addiction stuff (although that will be used to great comic effect by Benjamin Davis as Holmes). Much more shockingly, and to the delighted machismo of the dull but very married Watson, the experienced detective is a…virgin. And oh, what revenge the Doctor has in giving the great man his comeuppance. Let the case of the battling over-compensators begin! How much emotional support can you expect from an elder brother? What will Inspector Lestrade do if he finds out? Will the great mind ever be able to focus again? Is there any accent with greater comic possibilities than Scottish? (Thank you, Tommy Schrider for making that seem doubtful.) Everyone is implicated as accessories to the mayhem—the entire cast is great fun and fully committed. The action shifts deftly with the strategic use of screens and the work does not lag under Davis McCallum’s direction. The piece may not be what is generally thought of as a musical, as it is very light on the song front (four, to be exact and though fun, quite short ditties at that). However, the writing amuses and takes advantage of all available puns (as in "Don’t shit me, Sherlock!"). The humor tends to rely more on violence than the tease the term "whoopee" led me to expect. It does tend to be a very male piece overall, going on at length about the stereotypically oppressive reputation of the Victorian era and underutilizing its strong female cast. Susan Ferrara plays both Irene Adler and Mrs. Watson hilariously, and Rose Grimmond’s Doctor Moriarty is a joy. This show proves it elementary that the extremes of sexual insecurity can be the source of an enormous amount of entertainment.