453:, she is Roger's partner. Bernice is very odd and emotional, frequently losing her composure and screaming. When Marjorie fails to respond to the second act opening number of "White House Merry-Go-Round", Bernice is hugely offended, despite the fact that Marjorie was dead at the time. She spends the entire second act attempting to "fix" the play, even when she is held hostage by Ken, O'Reilly, and Dieter. In the finale, she is struck with inspiration toward a new work that takes place in the heartland of America – a cowboy play called
421:. She constantly flatters everyone around her, and speaks in elevated language; her "new word" is "divoon." She is accidentally killed by Dieter at the end of the first act (in the dark he thought she was Elsa); strangely, no one seems to notice, despite the fact that there is an enormous sword through her back. Eddie, Ken and Kelly bury her dead body in a snowdrift in the beginning of the second act. Marjorie was first played by Pamela Dunlap.
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that they have not yet been released. Ken is eventually revealed as the Stage Door
Slasher, and explains that his hatred of ballet dancers stems from his father, who ran off with one and abandoned his mother. He attempts to kill Nikki, along with Elsa, Roger and Bernice. Eddie ends up thwarting him, and he is taken away to prison, rambling about how he knows
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253:, in which The Stage Door Slasher murdered three women. Eddie instantly wants to leave, and tells Nikki that she should leave as well, but he decides to stay after Marjorie and Elsa enter and woo him into staying. Roger Hopewell and Bernice Roth arrive and meet the performers, and the group gets started with their work.
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After things get underway, Marjorie is murdered and the body of Helsa is discovered. After a series of dizzy conversations, multiple trips through secret doorways leading to a labyrinth of hidden passageways, a power outage in the mansion, multiple crimes, and criminals are revealed. Eventually after
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Kelly is an undercover cop. Elsa appeals to him to help solve the mystery of the Stage Door
Slasher, and Kelly at first pretends to be her butler. Kelly's tough, no-nonsense attitude puts him at odds with Elsa and the dramatic types that visit. He eventually reveals his identity as a New York police
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for "White House Merry-Go-Round", and
Bernice's partner; the two have had a string of Broadway hits. Roger enjoys teasing Ken about his artistic ways, and makes snide remarks throughout the play, but flares up whenever someone insults his musical style. He also knows how to deal with Bernice's many
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First played by
Michael Ayr. Ken is a "typical" director, speaking of theater as a "pure art." He also has an annoying habit of name-dropping, constantly citing the various celebrities he has worked with over the years. Everyone always claims to have seen the films he makes, only for him to reveal
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The next morning, we see Helsa again, only now her entire personality seems to have changed overnight. The guests Elsa has invited soon begin to arrive. They have been invited for a backer's audition to the
Musical
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Elsa is the eccentric owner of the mansion and is the financial backer of many musicals. Elsa summons the group together in an attempt to find out who murdered her "friend" Bebe McAllister. She is extremely
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In the opening scene, we see Helsa is killed by a masked figure. We also see Elsa talking to a police officer, Michael Kelly, about some sort of undercover scheme. Both are unaware of the maid's murder.
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bottle. These brave actions unite him with Nikki. He has an obvious attraction to Nikki throughout the whole play, and ultimately ends up saving the day and getting the girl. First played by
336:, but he is very suspicious, especially with regard to the mysterious Helsa. The two engage in a physical brawl. Eventually, O'Reilly claims to be "Tony Garibaldi", an undercover cop with a
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named Ken De La Maize, and a beautiful young singer/dancer named Nikki
Crandall. Nikki is followed in by a young (and bad) comedian named Eddie McCuen, who takes an instant liking to Nikki.
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Agent named Klaus
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in
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much murderous mayhem the Stage Door
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officer, much to Elsa's dismay. In the second act, he is kidnapped by an unseen figure and disappears into a
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brother, Dieter. The actress who plays Helsa also appears at the end of the play as "Katrina, the cook from
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in the second act, killing him. The original O'Reilly was played by Nicholas Wyman.
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in their theatre at 99 Seventh Avenue South in New York City, later moving to
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quirks. Towards the end of the play, Roger reveals a surprising knowledge of
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named Patrick O'Reilly. He's quickly followed by a bombastic
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