Murder in the Past Tense (Miss Prentice Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by E. E. Kennedy Read Free Book Online

part—you know, the landlady, Mrs. Kline?”
    The musical read-through was just that. No costumes, no sets and no makeup, just the spoken lines and the songs, sung from the music, accompanied by the piano, but they were enough for me. From the first note of the overture, I was transported to a dilapidated cold-water Greenwich Village apartment right along with the characters. It was thrilling.
    But we weren’t doing a radio play, I thought. How on earth was Terence going to manage the scenery? I’d read that the complicated two-story set in the original production had won the show a Tony award. The opening, “Greenwich Montage,” a musical pastiche of a Currier and Ives print depicting Central Park at the turn of the twentieth century, was said to have used a revolving stage. There was a photo of it on one of my albums.
    “Do you think you could paint my portrait?” The first words the Lover (played by Danny) says to the young artist Johnsie (played by Terence’s sister Dierdre) begins a flirtation that leads to a passionate romance lasting only through two songs, “Greenwich Montage” and “Art and Cold Water,” about the only apartments available to impoverished artists.
    In parting, the Lover sings a rather hypocritical song to justify his leaving: “I’m Doing This for You.” The heartbroken Johnsie falls into an unnamed, life-threatening illness. As her sister, Beatrice, (played by Celia Hurley) struggles to keep Johnsie alive, their neighbor, old reprobate painter Max (also played by Danny, in heavy makeup and body padding), makes things even more difficult with his loud drunkenness. The song, “Survival of The Fittest,” tells of Max’s lifelong ambition to be a famous artist. Max pretends to be heartless, but he is touched by the plight of the two sisters and secretly arranges to help them out financially.
    Neil, playing Mick O’Shaunnesy, sweetheart of Johnsie’s sister Beatrice, introduces a note of humor as he explains to the girl why he doesn’t have a job, and isn’t likely to get one. He pulls a sign from a storefront and holds it aloft: “No Irish Need Apply.” He then sings and dances to a sprightly Irish jig with a note of sadness.
     
    I’ll ever be a son of Erin
    So please don’t ask me why
    I crossed the wide sea
    To be in a place
    Where no Irish need apply . . .
     
    He sweeps Beatrice into his arms, dances with her and tries to persuade her to come west with him where
     
    Alls there is is cowboys and a wide blue open sky
    And nary a sign put anyplace, No Irish Need Apply!
     
    Mick asks Beatrice to marry him, but though she loves him, she chooses to remain with her sister, who needs her. Mick departs sadly. I could tell that Neil was perfect for this part.
    Johnsie (a whining character that I found rather tiresome) decides that her life force parallels that of a dying vine clinging to the wall just outside her window. In the song “The Last Leaf,” Johnsie says that every day, several leaves fall from the vine and soon they will all be gone. She has decided that the day the last leaf falls will also be her last. Beatrice is frantic and sings the impassioned descant “Hold on and Grow” over her sister’s melody of despair. The intermission curtain falls.
    Chris Gold stood. “Okay, that’s Act One, everybody. Let’s take a break right here.” He consulted his watch. “Let’s all be back in fifteen.”
    As everyone filed up the center aisle, Pat Gerard shouldered her way down to the stage and had a brief whispered consultation with Chris. Beckoning to Deirdre, she escorted the puzzled girl up the aisle. They disappeared into the lobby.
    When we all returned from our break, Terence was standing in front of the piano. “I apologize for the delay, ladies and gentlemen. Family business and all that.”
    Deirdre and a girl with long blonde hair made their way together down the aisle.
    Lily beat a tattoo on my shoulder with her index finger, whispering, “Look-look-look!