| SPRING CREEK SUN from the column, "Sun Spots" Off-Off Broadway Musical Scores by Agnes E. Green |
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Resist the temptation to purchase tickets to see a hit Broadway show and go see Cooking the Books: A
Recipe for Murder, a musical murder mystery.
Using every bit of her special brand of ingenuity, playwright-producer Jacqueline Hankins has carefully
blended talent and imagination to craft a spicy bit of genuine entertainment.
A zany off-Broadway production, it cleverly mixes music, mystery, murder, and mirth with a rhyming beat.
The prolific Hankins, who in recent years returned to America, after spending many years performing in
Europe, wrote Cooking the Books, composed its lyrics, and directed the actors. The musical is one in a
series of folk operas that she calls "Hop Hop Musical Mysteries." In 2002, A Murder at the Church was the
first in the series.
With a laptop computer, wall projector, and boom box, Hankins uses everyday consumer technology to
create an engaging 90-minute multi-media theatrical experience. The audience is treated to the musical
mystery's back-story told through video images, intertwined with live segments in which the characters
literally step off the screen and sing their Hip-Hop nuanced dialogue.
Cooking the Books is a campy production about a shady businessperson whose books are going to be
audited by the government. That spells big trouble - the books are not in order and the audit could mean
the end of a very lucrative business, but more threateningly jail time for all responsible for the accounting
deceptions.
The nine-member cast, which includes Hankins as Kenya Johnson, gives an enjoyable performance as
the characters plot and scheme to escape the clutches of the law - including murder.
Hankins, the producer-playwright has assembled a group of entertainers whose individual and combined
talents infuse the production with an honest enthusiasm and real fun.
The in-person cast includes Anna Hill, who, after a self-imposed hiatus, returns to the theater, her "first
love"; she was the social worker in the acclaimed 70s off-Broadway production of Edward Albee's
American Dream. Coloratura Soprano Ann Estill, who made her European debut as The Queen of the
night in Mozart's The Magic Flute in Rome, Italy, gives a sidesplitting performance as Lethal Liz. Poet-actor
Angel Martinez plays with conviction the lead role as the shady businessperson. Newcomer Erika Staples
delivers the goods as she performs in her first New York Production.
Mykeko E. Bryant, Leroy Hankins, Loretta Poole, and Stephen Robinson, give on screen video
performances that keep the musical mystery's flow tight and moving.
On Saturdays and Sundays, Cooking the Books, this high camp musical, is performed at a rather unique
venue; the second floor dining room of the Playwright Tavern - 732 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, where a
moderately priced brunch (not included in the $20 admission) is served before the show at 2:30 p.m.
For more information, www.hiphopmusicalmysteries.com or 212/974-6440.
Recipe for Murder, a musical murder mystery.
Using every bit of her special brand of ingenuity, playwright-producer Jacqueline Hankins has carefully
blended talent and imagination to craft a spicy bit of genuine entertainment.
A zany off-Broadway production, it cleverly mixes music, mystery, murder, and mirth with a rhyming beat.
The prolific Hankins, who in recent years returned to America, after spending many years performing in
Europe, wrote Cooking the Books, composed its lyrics, and directed the actors. The musical is one in a
series of folk operas that she calls "Hop Hop Musical Mysteries." In 2002, A Murder at the Church was the
first in the series.
With a laptop computer, wall projector, and boom box, Hankins uses everyday consumer technology to
create an engaging 90-minute multi-media theatrical experience. The audience is treated to the musical
mystery's back-story told through video images, intertwined with live segments in which the characters
literally step off the screen and sing their Hip-Hop nuanced dialogue.
Cooking the Books is a campy production about a shady businessperson whose books are going to be
audited by the government. That spells big trouble - the books are not in order and the audit could mean
the end of a very lucrative business, but more threateningly jail time for all responsible for the accounting
deceptions.
The nine-member cast, which includes Hankins as Kenya Johnson, gives an enjoyable performance as
the characters plot and scheme to escape the clutches of the law - including murder.
Hankins, the producer-playwright has assembled a group of entertainers whose individual and combined
talents infuse the production with an honest enthusiasm and real fun.
The in-person cast includes Anna Hill, who, after a self-imposed hiatus, returns to the theater, her "first
love"; she was the social worker in the acclaimed 70s off-Broadway production of Edward Albee's
American Dream. Coloratura Soprano Ann Estill, who made her European debut as The Queen of the
night in Mozart's The Magic Flute in Rome, Italy, gives a sidesplitting performance as Lethal Liz. Poet-actor
Angel Martinez plays with conviction the lead role as the shady businessperson. Newcomer Erika Staples
delivers the goods as she performs in her first New York Production.
Mykeko E. Bryant, Leroy Hankins, Loretta Poole, and Stephen Robinson, give on screen video
performances that keep the musical mystery's flow tight and moving.
On Saturdays and Sundays, Cooking the Books, this high camp musical, is performed at a rather unique
venue; the second floor dining room of the Playwright Tavern - 732 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, where a
moderately priced brunch (not included in the $20 admission) is served before the show at 2:30 p.m.
For more information, www.hiphopmusicalmysteries.com or 212/974-6440.
