AT NORTH COAST REP, ‘MISTER HOLMES’ FEELS RIGHT AT HOME
The great Sherlock Holmes finally meets his match in a world-premiere production at North Coast Repertory Theatre, but it isn’t a criminal mastermind. It’s the sister of his trusted confidant Dr. John Watson.
In “The Remarkable Mister Holmes,” Sheila Watson turns up at 221b Baker Street explaining that her brother has gone off to Argentina, where he’s inherited a mine. In this musical-comedy/mystery written by Omri Schein and David Ellenstein with music by Daniel Lincoln, the whipsmart Sheila (Sharon Rietkerk) steps right into her sibling’s shoes when murder strikes a swank London hotel. She’s about as welcome to the arrogant, misogynistic Holmes (Bart Shatto) as a broken magnifying glass.
Sherlock Holmes is right at home at the North Coast Rep, which previously staged the mystery plays “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Great Nome Gold Rush” in 2016 and “Holmes & Watson” in 2018. “The Remarkable Mister Holmes,” like those two directed by Ellenstein, is even more ambitious with its cast of nine (most in multiple roles), a four-piece band directed by Ron Councell and a score with 20 tunes.
Conceived four years ago, “The Remarkable Mister Holmes” was to have closed the North Coast Rep’s 2020-21 season, only to be waylaid by the pandemic. The arrival of an escapist musical-comedy with Mel Brooksian sensibilities is a much-needed balm for today’s headlines.
This show is inhabited by some delicious types. There’s Holmes, portrayed with the requisite attitude and mannerisms by Shatto, and Sheila, played to perfection by Rietkerk. But the tale of murder and jewel
theft also includes a garish baron from The Continent and his equally garish wife, Gustav and Gerda Von Schwanz (Phil Johnson and Katie Karel); several doomed clerics played by Andrew Ableson; and the haughty hotel proprietor Ramjoy (David McBean, in his element). These are character actors in peak
form. Deborah Gilmour Smyth, too, is a Mrs. Hudson, housekeeper to Holmes, given far more vitality than in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s narratives.
Making room for so many actors on a small stage is a formidable task, as is depicting Holmes’ Baker Street salon, the interior of the Hotel Magnificent
and the Victorian streets of London. The quick-changing cast members and smooth transitions of Marty Burnett’s set designs are up to the challenge.
Where “The Remarkable Mister Holmes” labors is finding a balance between showcasing Schein’s clever, sometimes giddily ribald lyrics and the non-musical telling of the story’s serpentine mystery. To accommodate both story and song, including giving extraneous solos to the characters of Inspector Lestrade (Tony Perry), the hotel maid Phyllis (Katy Tang), lengthens the proceedings well beyond what they should be.
Like Doyle’s written accounts, there are red herrings, surprises and many games afoot. Hardly elementary.
It’s tempting to just sit back and enjoy all the comedic talent onstage while listening with a keen ear not so much for the intricacies of the mystery but to Schein’s witty wordplay in sync with a score that eschews the dreaded power ballad.
That’s enough to leave a glow in Sherlock Holmes’ discerning eyes.