Actors reunite for 'Murder for Two: Holiday Edition'

While warming up for their first rehearsal, Andrea Wollenberg and Mark Schenfisch could be seen leaning into a side hug at the piano. 

The two star in the musical-comedy whodunit “Murder for Two: Holiday Edition,” which opens Friday (Nov. 24) at the Williamston Theatre after a few preview performances last weekend. The show is back by popular demand after its hugely successful run in 2017, now with a holiday twist. 

“It’s a reunion,” Schenfisch said. “I’m going to be working with someone who I know and trust and love already.” 

Wollenberg echoed his sentiment about trust. 

“We’re able to sense what the other person needs, and we’re able to be really clear about what we need to get the work done,” she said.

The murder happens during the show’s opening number, when great American novelist Arthur Whitney falls victim to a shot in the dark at his own surprise party, now set on Christmas Eve. 

“It’s the same mystery, it’s the same characters, but it has a Santa suit on,” Wollenberg said. 

Every guest at the party becomes a suspect. Wollenberg plays all 10 of them, and Schenfisch plays Marcus Moscowicz, the earnest detective determined to interview each one.

“The show requires a very specific skill set,” said Emily Sutton-Smith, the theater’s executive director and co-founder. Both performers have to be able to act, play piano, sing in a variety of styles and make audiences laugh. Additionally, Wollenberg said, they have to be “mercurially able to change on a dime.”

“We’re going up and down stairs, sitting, standing and running. And singing. Even though I’m very physically fit, it takes a lot out of my body,” she said. 

When Moscowicz arrives at the scene before a more senior detective assigned to the case, his ambition and commitment to the rules come into immediate conflict. No sooner does he sing a song about rules being the key to success (“Protocol Says”) than he steps in to impersonate his superior.

“He has an attention to detail that eventually gets overwhelmed by the antics of the suspects,” Schenfisch said. But by the end of the show, “There’s a certain relaxedness, and he’s more willing to go with the flow and accept what’s put in front of him and deal with that the best way he can, rather than try to control everything.” 

Audiences can expect to meet a more grown-up Moscowicz this time around, with “more detective intensity” and “drive,” Schenfisch continued. Returning director Rob Roznowski has given both performers permission to focus on the “reality” of their characters and trust the comedy will come through.

“Traditionally, the character is played a little campier than Scooby Doo,” Schenfisch said. But Moscowicz also has “a bit of a tragic backstory,” which Schenfisch leans into. 

Wollenberg emphasized on Williamston Theatre’s “Backstage Chat” podcast that “real is funny.” She works to sharpen the specificity of each character through close attention to body mechanics. 

“Every muscle in my body is telling the story of whoever I’m telling,” she said. “I need to be really specific about how my shoulders are either internally rotated or externally rotated, if my chest is sticking out, if my vocal cords or my larynx are dropping or raising.”

Though the show is a lighthearted comedy overall, there is “a serious through line” in the way that Moscowicz opens his heart to take the next step on his journey toward love and professional success, Sutton-Smith said. He starts out as a detective without a partner. But the murder does get solved. And the storyline ends on a note of partnership. 

The companionship between the two actors is on virtuosic display at the show’s end, when the two perform a rollicking four-hand piano duet, “Finale Ultimo (A Friend Like You),” Wollenberg’s favorite part of the show.

“The story’s over, everything’s wrapped up. And now it’s just a chance for Mark and I to have a shit-ton of fun on the piano,” she said.

Sutton-Smith said the partnership between the two actors, so essential to the show, could be seen as a metaphor for all the partnerships necessary to make theater happen. She thinks this note of interdependency will strike a chord with post-pandemic audiences still learning to be together in person again. 

Moscowicz “becomes more willing to rely on another human being and work with another human being,” she said. “And that’s really important. We need each other. It’s OK to need each other.”