For a decade in the '50s and '60s, Alfred Hitchcock Presents was a staple on television sets. It piggy-backed on the success of the director’s worldwide fame as the ‘Master of Suspense’.
Every episode in the anthology series began with an introduction, beginning with a trademarked “Good evening” in his recognisable voice. The series ended in 1965 with 268 half-hour episodes in the can (361 if we include Alfred Hitchcock’s Hour—which this musical does not base any material on) and a legacy which is still shown on television today.
When book writer Jay Dyer (Californication) was first approached by Steven Ludvak, who won a Tony Award for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, and both agreed the task of establishing a structure, no less a musical structure, with so much material, it was not for the faint hearted.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents—The Musical sees Dyer and Ludvak, who sadly passed away in 2023, intertwine multiple plots from the television show into a punchy, two-hour musical. The score infuses an early Cole Porter jazz-style with a hint of Steven Sondheim’s quirkiness. It largely works, not just due to a fantastic star-studded cast. While no songs will likely be hummed out of the theatre, they’re fun and, more importantly, performed excellently.
The company includes an embarrassment of riches in award-winning musical theatre stars from Sally-Ann Triplett (The Witches and Cabaret) and Scarlett Strallan (Mary Poppins) to Nicola Hughes (Fosse) and Liam Tamne (The Prince of Egypt). The cast do a superb job at keeping the tempo high, with Triplett and Strallen especially dazzling and memorable in their portrayals of Lottie Croaken and Mary respectively.
The production also benefits from some excellent movement and direction—it’s a constantly moving piece, magnificently aided by a greyscale television set (designed by director John Doyle and David L Arsenault) and costumes (designed by Jonathan Lipman). It certainly looks the part.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents—The Musical might fall into the category of recent intellectual property nostalgia. The interwoven stories at times struggle to fully connect and fall victim to perhaps one too many. However, if you loved the show, you’d get a kick out of it being performed so well on stage. All in all, a good evening.