Drop Dead

by Billy Van Zandt, William Van Zandt, Jane Milmore

Comedy / 7 male, 3 female Interior A cast of has been actors plan to revive their careers in Drop Dead!, a potboiler murder mystery directed by "Wonder Child of the Broadway Stage" Victor Le Pewe (a psychotic eye twitching megalomaniac). At the dress rehearsal the set falls, props break, and the producer and an actor are murdered. During the opening night performance, the murders continue. The remaining thespians must save the show and their careers, solve the mystery

Genres: Plays

104 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1992

Reviews

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure - I am currently appearing in a community theater production of this play, so I am obviously biased. The subtitle of the play is, "A Farce," and a farce it truly is. Think a parody of an Agatha Christie mystery meets "Waiting for Guffman," and that will give you a better idea of what the play is about. I don't know who would read this besides someone who just loves to read plays or someone auditioning to appear in a production.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I read this for a potential audition coming up. It's a funny play... very farcical... sometimes a bit over-the-top ridiculous even for a farce.

A play-within-a-play gets disrupted by controlling producers, disgruntled writers, awful actors... and when the murder-mystery turns actual murder, everyone's in a tizzy.

But what else can you do? The show must go on...

[Misti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cheesy and over-the-top.

[Pat Mckay · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, it'a a farce. But it's a GOOD farce.

[Tiffany Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I read a preview on the publisher's site and LOVED it. When my copy arrived, I was devastated to discover it was an updated rewrite from 2014. It starts entirely differently, losing a lot of what pulled me in initially. Regardless, I gave it a chance and there's still a lot to love. I've read the authors' works previously, and they generally require a lot of help from the the director and cast. Although the same can be said for this one, too, there is a difference: this had laughs that landed from the go. It 's a bit WAITING FOR GUFFMAN-meets-Agatha Christie and it has a lot of potential.

I still really want to read the original version. Unfortunately, Samuel French no longer has it available - and I'm having a hard time getting a confirmation from Amazon sellers on which version they have. I will keep on trying... but in the meantime, I liked this show. I actually laughed out loud reading it several times. I'd love to try putting this one on. 4 stars

[Amelia Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play. . . it dropped me dead from laughter.
This play made me laugh harder than any other book has--at least, I think--and it took a few dark turns near the end of each Act, which I enjoyed. The only thing I found frustrating is how the characters are called by their real names and stage names (e.g. Crawford is Lady Brighton and so on). It kinda confused me. There is some adult content (which my instructor has tried to change as best as she can), but it is an amazingly funny play.

I cannot wait to act this out on stage.