Word: poirot
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...reassemble an old musical needs a mix of showmanship and scholarship--a paleontologist's digging and Poirot's powers of inference. "Did they use this harmony, or did they mean it to be that harmony?" says Rob Fisher, 45, the series' musical director and local hero. "I agonize over this, because I want the score to sound exactly as it did originally." No reclamation project has been as daunting as that of St. Louis Woman. "There was no score," Fisher says, "just scraps of material." Ace orchestrators Ralph Burns and Luther Henderson re-created--and, for the overture and dance...
Enter Commander Adam Dalgliesh--James' clone of Hercules Poirot--to save the day. We soon are introduced to the many suspects: the housekeepers in the law chambers, Ashe himself, Aldridge's daughter, lawyers in the office, Aldridge's lover, the judges of the court and of course the mysterious men from her past. There is, of course, absolutely no doubt that Dalgliesh will solve the mystery, save all those in distress and manage to be ridiculously heroic at all times. But we don't mind as long as the shameless thrills keep coming...
Eventually, Dalgliesh emerges victorious, but that certainly isn't a surprise. Nor is it irritating--Dalgliesh is an impressive protagonist in that he doesn't always seem invincible. Hercule poirot and Miss Marple in Christie novels always seemed to transcend the material--solving mysteries was just as nonchalant an activity as having tea every afternoon. Dalgliesh is more caught up in the twists and turns of the story; like the reader, he doesn't have things figured out until the very end. Often, mystery authors cheat by holding back key pieces of evidence and leaving the audience in the dark...
...Davies' production quickly brushes away any cobwebs. Diana Rigg, as Martha, the university president's daughter frustrated with her underachieving history-teacher husband, is acid, sexy and funny without turning into a camp diva spewing one-liners. She is matched snide-for-snide by David Suchet (PBS's Poirot), with his oversize glasses and chiseled, world-weary sarcasm. Together with Lloyd Owen and Clare Holman as the young couple drawn into the game playing, they bring out all the lacerating power and poignancy of Albee's depiction of the blasted American Dream. Make that everyone's dream...
Somebody call Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes. There's an ECAC team out there who might mystify them both...