Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!
{{Short description|British musical theatre production}}
{{Infobox Musical
|name= Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder!
|image=File: Kathy & Stella Ambassadors.jpg
|caption=Kathy & Stella at the Ambassadors
|book=Jon Brittain
|music=Matthew Floyd Jones
|lyrics={{hlist|Jon Brittain|Matthew Floyd Jones}}
|premiere_date={{Start date|2022|08|03}}
|premiere_location=Summerhall, Edinburgh
|basis=
|productions=2022 Edinburgh Fringe
2023 UK Tour
2024 West End
|awards=2022 Musical Theatre Review Award for Best Musical
}}
Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder! is a murder mystery comedy musical about two true crime podcasters who are thrust into a thrilling whodunnit of their own. The show was written by Jon Brittain (book and lyrics) and Matthew Floyd Jones (music and lyrics), and developed by producer Francesca Moody.
Kathy & Stella opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End in May 2024.{{cite web |url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/full-casting-confirmed-for-kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-in-the-west-end_1594830/ |title=Full casting confirmed for Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! in the West End |publisher=What's On Stage |date=24 Apr 2024}}
Synopsis
Kathy and Stella, two murder-obsessed best friends from Beverley near Hull, are the oddball hosts of Kathy & Stella's Murder Podcast, a tiny operation broadcast weekly from the Baxters' garage to the exasperation of their disapproving families. After failing to wow their idol Felicia Taylor at a book signing, their disappointment is soon forgotten when they find themselves in an interrogation room being informed that they are two of the last people to have seen a recent murder victim. Realising that they could both become "part of the story," Kathy and Stella vow to catch the killer themselves, thus beginning a ludicrous caper around Humberside as they realise they don't know what they're doing. Tensions finally come to a head at the Birmingham Convention Centre's Murder Con, a dramatic showdown that puts Kathy and Stella's friendship to the absolute test.{{cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/kathy-stella-solve-a-murder-review-1#:~:text=One%20day%2C%20the%20author%20Felicia,to%20have%20cracked%20decades%20ago |title=Review: Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder |publisher=Time Out |date=13 Jun 2024}}
Roles
- Kathy Baxter, library assistant and co-host of Kathy & Stella's Murder Podcast
- Stella Carmichael, her unemployed best friend and co-host
- Felicia Taylor, best-selling true crime author, "the woman who solved the case of the Hull Decapitator"
- Justin Norris and Erica Knott, morgue technicians
- Sue Shaw, detective inspector
- David Slatter, ex-police officer
- Vanessa Baxter, Kathy's mother
- Frankie Carmichael, Stella's sister
Background
Brittain and Jones, who had previously collaborated on the Fringe First Award-winning play A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad),{{cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/the-scotsman-fringe-first-awards-2017-winners-1442940 |title=The Scotsman Fringe First awards 2017 winners |publisher=The Scotsman |date=11 Aug 2017 |accessdate=7 Jan 2025}} conceived and wrote Kathy & Stella during the COVID-19 lockdown.{{cite web|url=https://www.westendtheatre.com/163643/news/kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-to-play-in-edingburgh-bristol-and-manchester/ |title=Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! to play in Edinburgh, Bristol and Manchester |publisher=West End Theatre |date=28 Mar 2023 |accessdate=7 Jan 2025}}
Production history
=2022 Edinburgh Fringe=
Kathy & Stella premiered at Summerhall (Paines Plough) during the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe, produced by Francesca Moody and Kater Gordon, co-directed by Brittain and Fabian Aloise (also choreographer), with musical direction and arrangements by Jones.{{cite web |url=https://painesplough.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Web-Flyer-Back-Kathy-and-Stella-Solve-A-Murder.pdf |title=Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder |publisher=Paines Plough |access-date=12 Jun 2024}} Other members of the creative team included Cecilia Carey (set and costume), Peter Small (lighting) and Tingying Dong (sound). The show was 70 minutes long, performed in the round by five cast members and the composer on piano.
=2023 UK Tour=
Kathy & Stella was expanded for a 2023 UK tour, returning to the Edinburgh Fringe (Underbelly) with a 90-minute iteration, followed by a two-act version at Bristol Old Vic and HOME Manchester, produced by Moody and Gordon in collaboration with Fiery Angel and Wessex Grove.{{cite web |url=https://www.westendtheatre.com/178078/news/kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-announces-full-cast-and-creatives/ |title=Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! announces full cast and creatives |publisher=WestEndTheatre.com |date=26 Jun 2023}} By this stage the creative team also included Dan Samson (sound), Charlie Ingles (orchestrator and supervisor) and Charlie Martin (associate director), and the company had grown to eight cast members and four musicians. Four songs from the show were released via streaming services.{{cite web |url=https://playbill.com/article/edinburgh-fringe-hit-kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-releases-ep-october-10#:~:text=Releases%20EP%20October%2010%20%7C%20Playbill&text=The%20four%2Dtrack%20release%20features,of%20the%20murder%20mystery%20musical.&text=Kathy%20and%20Stella%20Solve%20a%20Murder!%2C%20a%20verifiable%20Edinburgh%20Festival,the%20songs%20from%20the%20show |first=Margaret |last=Hall |title=Edinburgh Fringe Hit Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! Releases EP October 10 |publisher=Playbill |date=10 Oct 2023}}
=2024 West End=
In 2024 it was announced that the full-length version of Kathy & Stella would transfer to the West End, opening at the Ambassadors Theatre on 25 May. On 5 June, during the interval of the press night performance, a water leak occurred backstage that prevented the show from continuing,{{cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/musical-kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-cancels-shows-ambassadors-theatre-west-end-flood-b1162694.html |first=Robert |last=Dex |title=West End musical Kathy & Stella Solve A Murder! cancels shows after theatre flood |publisher=The Evening Standard |date=7 Jun 2024}} but performances resumed a few nights later and the show completed its 16-week run on 14 September as intended.
To coincide with the West End opening, the script of Kathy & Stella was published under the Methuen Drama imprint by Bloomsbury Publishing.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-9781350504981/ |title=Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! |publisher=Bloomsbury |accessdate=9 Jan 2025}}
Cast
| class="wikitable" |
| style="width:25%;"rowspan="2"|Role
!style="width:25%;"|Edinburgh Fringe{{cite web |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/2022/kathy-stella-solve-a-murder/ |title=Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder |publisher=British Comedy Guide |access-date=12 Jun 2024}} |
|---|
| 2022
!2023 !2024 |
| Kathy
|colspan="3"style="text-align:center;"|Bronté Barbé |
| Stella
|colspan="3"style="text-align:center;"|Rebekah Hinds |
| Felicia+
|colspan="2"rowspan="2"style="text-align:center;"|Jodie Jacobs |style="text-align:center;"|Hannah-Jane Fox |
| Sue
|style="text-align:center;"|Elliotte Williams-N'Dure |
| Vanessa
|colspan="2"rowspan="3"style="text-align:center;"|TJ Lloyd |rowspan="2"style="text-align:center;"|Elliot Broadfoot |
| Justin |
| David
|style="text-align:center;"|Ben Redfern |
| Frankie
|colspan="3"rowspan="2"style="text-align:center;"|Imelda Warren-Green |
| Erica |
Songs
West End:
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
;Act I
- Prologue
- Kathy & Stella's Murder Podcast
- We're Gonna Wow Felicia Taylor
- True Crime Famous
- If I Didn't Have You (I Would Die)
- Part of the Story
- Fuck! We Don't Know What We're Doing
- Never Felt So Alive
- True Crime Famous 2
- Everyone's On Our Wavelength *
- The Approval of Strangers
- If I Did It
- Guilty as Sin *
{{col-break}}
;Act II
- Read About a Murder *
- Murder Con
- Can't Trust Anyone ^
- Sue's Song *
- The Show is Over
- We're Gonna Wow Felicia Taylor (Reprise)
- The One Whodunnit
- See You Next Murder
{{col-end}}
^ "Can't Trust Anyone" was added for the West End transfer.
Reception
The premiere was hailed as "a night of utter, unalloyed joy" in The i.{{cite web |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-edinburgh-fringe-summerhall-review-1803574 |first=Gwendolyn |last=Smith |title=Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder, Edinburgh Fringe, review: A night of pure joy |publisher=The i |date=19 Aug 2022}} The Guardian called it "thrilling" and "packed with artistry."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/aug/09/kathy-and-stella-solve-a-review-hapless-podcast-hosts-play-detectives-roundabout-summerhall-edinburgh |first=Anya |last=Ryan |title=Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder review – hapless podcast hosts play detectives |work=The Guardian |date=9 Aug 2022 |accessdate=7 Jan 2025}} "Songs come so thick and fast that you can't afford to miss a line," observed The Scotsman.{{cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/edinburgh-festivals/edinburgh-festival-fringe-reviews-kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-fabulett-1933-the-importance-of-being-earnest-the-actress-sex-with-friends-and-other-tiny-catastrophes-3812317 |title=Edinburgh Festival Fringe reviews: Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder |publisher=The Scotsman |date=19 Aug 2022 |accessdate=7 Jan 2025}} The production received the 2022 Musical Theatre Review Award for Best Musical.{{cite web |url=https://musicaltheatrereview.com/writers-celebrate-second-musical-theatre-review-award-as-kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-wins-best-musical-at-edinburgh-festival-fringe-2022/ |title=Writers celebrate second Musical Theatre Review Award as Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder wins Best Musical at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 |publisher=Musical Theatre Review |date=26 Aug 2022}}
Reviews of the West End production ranged from "bloody good fun with a poignant message" (Radio Times){{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/going-out/going-out-reviews/kathy-and-stella-solve-murder-review/ |first=Olivia |last=Garrett |title=Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! review: Bloody good fun with a poignant message |publisher=Radio Times |date=12 Jun 2024 |accessdate=7 Jan 2025}} and "a certified homicidal hoot" (WhatsOnStage),{{cite web|url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-in-the-west-end-review_1605000/ |first=Alex |last=Wood |title=Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder! in the West End – review |publisher=WhatsOnStage |date=10 Jun 2024 |accessdate=7 Jan 2025}} to "Kathy and Stella left me dead inside" (The Evening Standard).{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/kathy-and-stella-solve-a-murder-ambassadors-theatre-review-edinburgh-b1163223.html |first=Nick |last=Curtis |title=Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder! at Ambassadors Theatre review: a slapdash spoof of the true crime genre |publisher=Evening Standard |date=10 Jun 2024 |accessdate=7 Jan 2025}}