A musical with a dead uncle, a six-million-dollar inheritance, and a whirlwind trip to Monte Carlo—what could possibly go wrong?

Based on the 1983 novel, The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth, Lucky Stiff is an offbeat, hilarious murder mystery farce, complete with mistaken identities, six million bucks in diamonds, and a corpse in a wheelchair. The tuneful score, composed by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, includes “Something Funny’s Going On,” “Times Like This,” “Good to Be Alive” and “Nice.” Their first collaboration as a writing team, Ahrens and Flaherty went on to create Once on This Island, the Tony Award winning musical Ragtime, Seussical, and other well-known musicals.

The story revolves around Harry Witherspoon, a mild-mannered English shoe salesman who is forced to take the embalmed body of his recently murdered uncle on a vacation to Monte Carlo. Should he succeed in passing his uncle off as alive, Harry stands to inherit $6,000,000. If not, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn… or else his uncle’s gun-toting ex!

Lucky Stiff was created and performed at Playwrights Horizons off-Broadway in 1988, and won the Richard Rodgers Award for that year, followed by a successful run in London’s West End in 1997. A feature film version of Lucky Stiff, adapted by Ahrens and directed by Christopher Ashley, premiered at the 2014 Montreal World Film Festival and has been seen at other film festivals.

Presented by TCAN Players
Directed by Danielle Woods

CAST

Harry Witherspoon – Krishan Oberon, Medway MA

Annabel Glick – Kristen Sehn, Waltham MA

Rita La Porta – Madison Canfora, Boston MA

Vinnie Di Ruzzio – Patrick French, Westwood MA

Tony Hendon/Luigi Gaudi – Benjamin Madeiros, Jamaica Plain MA

Dominique – Kristin Fehlau, Framingham MA

Uncle Tony – Richard Mandel, Sudbury MA

Ensemble – Shanon Fay, Somerville MA

Ensemble – Andrew Haber, Brookline MA

Ensemble – Carolyn Carfarelli, Dorchester MA

Ensemble – Rebecca Graber, Allston MA