Take two comic actors, and let them loose in a madcap 90-minute musical featuring 13 characters, a grand piano and a murder or two, and you have one of the funniest shows in town.

Farce, vaudeville and tomfoolery collide as musical comedy meets Agatha Christie in Murder for Two, a whodunit that parodies classic murder mysteries, not to mention the traditional book musical.

Featuring music by Joe Kinosian, lyrics by Kellen Blair and a book by the two of them, Murder for Two premiered in Chicago in 2011, then had an off-Broadway season in 2013–14. Richard Carroll, Co-Artistic Director of the Hayes Theatre Co, directs this Australian premiere with Gabbi Bolt and Maverick Newman sharing the 13 roles, plus the piano.

Maverick Newman and Gabbi Bolt in Murder for Two, Hayes Theatre Co, 2023. Photo © Phil Erbacher

Bolt plays Marcus Moscowicz, a small town police officer who dreams of becoming a detective. When famous American novelist Arthur Whitney is gunned down at a surprise birthday party at his country mansion, Marcus and his silent (invisible) partner Lou are asked to guard the crime scene until the detective gets there....