Equal parts Agatha Christie murder mystery and Marx Brothers screwball romp, Murder for Two plays in Milwaukee at the Repertory Theater’s Stackner Cabaret, Nov. 10-Jan. 14, 2018. The two-man show pits one detective against nine individual suspects in a series of piano-centric musical interrogations. For co-writer and co-star Joe Kinosian, bringing the show to Brew City is a total homecoming, returning the award-winning playwright and performer to his roots, where he grew up and attended high school.
When did you first get the idea for Murder for Two?
I had joined the Broadcast Music Incorporated musical theater writers workshop in New York. I had written a couple of other musicals that nothing had happened with and hadn’t gone anywhere, and I figured this workshop would be a great place to meet potential collaborators and people to make things happen with, in a random networking sense. The first year of the program is basically speed dating for theater writers; you’re randomly paired up with another person in the class and you work on a project together. I was paired with Kellen Blair on an assignment that involved writing a song for the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. And it was a great assignment for us because we had this shared love of old movies, and that’s sort of what we bonded on.
After that and the first year, we were looking for something to do before the second year of the program began. We wanted to write something we could self-produce that was small, and could be produced inexpensively. The major impetus for that production decision was that we were these people who had no contacts, who were new to the business, and we just figured if we could get it off the ground ourselves without relying on others, that would be wise.
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What works served as the inspiration during the writing stage?
The style of it just came from our love of And Then There Were None and the Thin Man movies and the Marx Brothers. So that was sort of the notion, without basing it on anything, to imagine a world where it was the Marx Brothers playing out an Agatha Christie story.
What do you think it is about those two genres—comedy and mystery— that make them play well with each other?
Obviously, death can be a scary thing. But something about laughing about what is scary in life is very appealing, I think. Comedies and mysteries by themselves, without involving each other, are always welcome. But there’s that whole notion how every big scare in the movie Jaws comes right after a joke. There’s something about the yin and yang to that equation I find very interesting, and I think a lot of artists are drawn to it.
And what about adding music to that? How did that come in?
We originally were writing this play around my skill set, because I was an actor in it who would perform in it for free. I was a piano player first, before anything. I always felt more comfortable being behind the keys, in any situation. I went to Milwaukee High School of the Arts, and my way into the theater department at first began when I asked if I could play the piano for the musical my freshman year, and I slowly inched my way towards the stage. It became a big part of my performance, and the play really built from there.
In the early stages, we wanted to write a full musical. But we didn’t have the money to hire the two actors, plus a band. It just made sense that we added music into this equation by making the actors do it.
And then there’s a lot of links between the screwball, slapstick style of comedy and the music. Of course, the music of the Marx Brothers is iconic, and my influence for the music was—even though it takes place in the modern day—novelty ragtime-style music of the ’20s and ’30s.
What does it mean to you to bring your show to Milwaukee where you grew up?
It’s very cool. I grew up going to see shows at The Rep all the time, especially in middle school. I had a teacher who took my class in middle school—the kids who wanted to and had an interest in theater—and we basically saw everything through the mid-’90s while I was there. So I know this theater very well. Now I finally get to see the other side of it.
For tickets and more information about Murder For Two, call 414-224-9490 or visit milwaukeerep.com.
