Making a Murderer: The Musical ★★

Television has become something of a regular source of subject matter for musical theatre but with markedly varied results.

I Can’t Sing – The XFactor Musical floundered by trying to have its cake and eat it. It mocked the TV talent show’s use of sob stories, judging clichés, fake jeopardy, humiliation and the predictable key-change belt of most of the shows winners – and then used all those same techniques itself to entertain, leaving audiences confused if the musical was parodying or praising the show. Jerry Springer: The Opera seemed a highly unlikely proposition but by taking what was perceived to be low culture of the controversial and combative talk show and putting them into the high culture genre of operatic expression, they proved a TV source could provide a rich musical theatre seam.

Making a Murderer: The Musical is based on the real case and true events of Steven Avery, which inspired the award-winning Netflix true crime documentary series and global phenomenon. Making a Murderer: The Musical is created by and stars comedy writer Phil Mealey, who had success in the noughties co-writing TV sitcom Early Doors with Craig Cash and episodes of the beloved The Royle Family with Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, but this new creation sadly verges on that of a criminal case, and the honest verdict is that not every popular story should be turned into a Musical, even if you do have a BAFTA under your belt!

There is not reading the room – and then there is blithely ignoring a whole corridor. There is a growing backlash at the genre of TV true crime documentaries for the commodification of human tragedy which has escaped the creators’ attention. Similarly, the recent cancellation of the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical following Netflix legal action to stop future performances and recover profits from an unauthorised musical adaptation doesn’t seem to have given them pause for thought.

Most uncomfortably is where the 2005 murder of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach sits in the proceedings. Musicals have been made concerning real life murders. Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins explores the historical figures who attempted to assassinate American Presidents but historical public figures are significantly different from what is happening here. And yes, there have been musicals about uncomfortable contemporary history. Come From Away features a week following the September 11 attacks but importantly its focus is on celebrating the indomitable human spirit. The fact that Teresa Halbach’s family has spoken out against this musical on social media still hasn’t made the writer or producer question if it’s an appropriate for their show. If your sister / daughter / friend had been murdered, would you really want your tragedy used as fodder for a piece of musical theatre a mere 17 years later? What would song and dance numbers such as The DNA will save the Day say about your loss?

It certainly seems a questionable choice for an award-winning comedy writer to try and tackle a story of real-life murder and injustice and attempt to jazz (hands) it up. In exploring the events of Steven Avery, the show purportedly aims to highlight the many flaws, biases and inconsistencies that contributed to both of Mr Avery’s convictions and that still exist in the justice system today.

Ironically this show highlights the same three things that can happen when writing a musical. Making a Murderer: The Musical admittedly has some well-penned catchy tunes but sadly they are smothered to death with lyrics which reminded us of the dark days when the story of Stephen Ward and the Profumo affair were turned into a musical, too many words and not enough crotchets.

The saving grace of this show is undoubtedly the cast, who led by Matt Bond with his soaring tenor voice as Steven Avery, Nicky Filshie as Kathleen Zellner and Gillian Hardie as Betsy all do a stellar job and cannot be faulted for their dedication to the piece. Creator Phil Mealey also stars in the piece as Ken Kratz and delivers a confident performance as the ‘budget Billy Flynn’ portrayal of the crooked town Sheriff.

Working against this talented cast though is Christian Durham’s direction, which we are sorry to say lacks in imagination and light and shade. Scenes are overwhelmingly predictable and have a presumably unintentional air of ‘school play’ about it. Opening with a few of the actors ‘breaking the fourth wall’ and delivering a pre-show performance within the audience, the first scene sees the audience playing the part of a Manitowoc tour group – with the house lights on. The whole thing felt awkward, as if neither the actors nor the audience wanted it to be happening.

And so it goes on. The flippancy, the tonal switches between satire and sincerity, the cheapness of wigs and costumes constantly sinks any potential for polemic against the American justice system this show might have.

The cast did their very best under the circumstances having clearly been dealt a pretty bad hand – but in an effort to turn their luck around, it is they who have earnt this review its second star!

The Recs as a review site. We look for the positives in every show. Even if a piece might not be to our personal taste, we consider who we could recommend it to. In this case, we can’t with good conscience recommend it.

Making a Murderer: The Musical finishes its run at the Edinburgh Fringe on 29 August, and let that be a life sentence without parole.