“Murder on the Orient Express” reviewed by Amy Menzel

[rating=4]There are few things better than being transported by a theatrical production as soon as the house lights dim. The Milwaukee Rep’s production of Murder on the Orient Express provides such an experience. The audience is quickly whisked away upon the Orient Express traveling from Istanbul in the 1930s. We meet character after idiosyncratic character, each odd, intriguing, and entertaining in their own special way. It’s not long, however, before one of them is murdered and the rest become suspects.

Detective Hercule Poirot, played by the talented Steven Rattazzi, acts as host and guides the audience through the investigation. “There are too many clues and I am unhappy,” he says, to which I can only agree with the former. There are certainly a lot of clues, but I was happy to follow every twist, turn, and tryst throughout the evening.

This is not just a whodunit but a “How’d they do it?” How did scenic designer Luciana Stecconi conceptualize and build the moving parts to this elaborate set? How did lighting designer Noele Stollmack, sound designer Andre J. Pluess, and choreographer Jacqueline Burnett collaborate for such effective and entertaining moments? Given my limited insight as a mere impressed audience member (and the limited knowledge gained from my undergraduate “Introduction to Theater” course in the fall of 1999), I have to answer, simply: brilliantly.

This is a production with energy. The train may be stopped because of a snowstorm, but the story moves. The show will keep you guessing and laughing for the full two hours and five minutes (with a 20-minute intermission). I highly recommend.

Murder on the Orient Express runs through July 1:

Tuesday, June 7 (audio-described performance) at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 14 and 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (Thursday, June 23 is an ASL performance)
Wednesday, June 22 at 1:30 p.m. (bus matinee performance)
Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m.
Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (Sunday, June 26’s matinee is a captioned performance)

Talkbacks are Thursday evenings, June 9, 16, and 23 after the 7:30 performance.

Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased at https://www.milwaukeerep.com/