Downsize My Way, Please!

Downsizing is a good thing – especially when a friend downsizes some goodies my way!

Such was the happy case recently when playwright/composer Mark Friedman gifted me with a nicely framed poster from John Wood’s legendary turn as Sherlock Holmes in the iconic William Gillette play on Broadway in the mid-1970s. Mark attended the play and bought the poster, which now resides on the wall of my Sherlock Holmes library.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s

I love the way the poster hyped the melodramatic aspects of the play – which is, after all, a melodrama. It noted the presence of:

GENUINE LONDON FOG • TRAP DOORS

SECRET PASSAGES • GAS CHAMBERS

HIDDEN ELEVATORS • A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS

MYSTERIOUS KNOCKINGS

A DASTARLY ASSORTMENT OF VILLAINS

A PLOT TO TOPPLE KINGDOMS

AN UNBELIEVABLE ENDING

Yes, the ending is unbelievable to most Sherlockians – the most unbelievable part of the whole play, to me.

Mark Friedman and writing partner Janet Vogt have written more musicals than I have fingers and toes. One of them is a gem called “Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel,” which has been performed by 15 companies so far. Mark will play excerpts during his talk at the Holmes, Doyle, & Friends Five symposium in Dayton in March. Register now!