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Magical Mystery Tour

Recorded just four days after the completion of the Sgt Pepper album, ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ was Paul McCartney ’s attempt to maintain momentum within The Beatles and to give them a new direction and sense of purpose.

John and I remembered mystery tours, and we always thought this was a fascinating idea: getting on a bus and not knowing where you were going. Rather romantic and slightly surreal! All these old dears with the blue rinses going off to mysterious places. Generally there’s a crate of ale in the boot of the coach and you sing lots of songs. It’s a charabanc trip. So we took that idea and used it as a basis for a song and the film.

Inspired by Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters and their LSD-fuelled bus, McCartney decided The Beatles should try something similar. He devised a rough concept for the new project, which would involve the group travelling around the England in their own coach, filming whatever took place.

I used to go to the fairgrounds as a kid, the waltzers and the dodgems, but what interested me was the freak shows: the boxing booths, the bearded lady and the sheep with five legs, which actually was a four-legged sheep with one leg sewn on its side. When I touched it, the fellow said, ‘Hey, leave that alone!’ these were the great things of your youth. So much of your writing comes from this period; your golden memories. If I’m stuck for an idea, I can always think of a great summer, think of a time when I went to the seaside. Okay, sand sun waves donkeys laughter. That’s a pretty good scenario for a song.

The resulting TV film was a mess, and critically panned, though the soundtrack double EP (expanded to a full album in the US) was a best-seller.

‘Magical Mystery Tour’ was co-written by John and I, very much in our fairground period. One of our great inspirations was always the barker. ‘Roll up! Roll up!’ The promise of something: the newspaper ad that says ‘guaranteed not to crack’, the ‘high class’ butcher, ‘satisfaction guaranteed’ from Sgt Pepper . ‘Come inside,’ ‘ Step inside, Love ‘; you’ll find that pervades a lot of my songs. If you look at all the Lennon-McCartney things, it’s a thing we do a lot.

The title track was McCartney’s initial idea, based on ideas written on an overnight flight from America on 11 April 1967 , though what he took to the studio was little more than the title and three chords. He attempted to rouse the other Beatles into contributing lyrics, but their enthusiasm was low and later completed the lyrics alone.

Because those were psychedelic times it had to become a magical mystery tour, a little bit more surreal than the real ones to give us a licence to do it. But it employs all the circus and fairground barkers, ‘Roll up! Roll up!’, which was also a reference to rolling up a joint. We were always sticking those little things in that we knew our friends would get; veiled references to drugs and to trips. ‘Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away ,’ so that’s a kind of drug, ‘it’s dying to take you away’ so that’s a Tibetan Book of the Dead reference. We put all these words in and if you were just an ordinary person, it’s a nice bus that’s waiting to take you away, but if you’re tripping, it’s dying, it’s the real tour, the real magical mystery tour. We stuck all that stuff in for our ‘in group’ of friends really. ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ was the equivalent of a drug trip and we made the film based on that. ‘That’ll be good, a far-out mystery tour. Nobody quite knows where they’re going. We can take ’em anywhere we want, man!’ Which was the feeling of the period. ‘They can go in the sky. It can take off!’ In fact, in the early script, which was just a few fireside chats more than a script, the bus was going to actually take off and fly up to the magicians in the clouds, which was us all dressed in red magicians’ costumes, and we’d mess around in a little laboratory being silly for a while.

In the studio

The first ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ session took place on 25 April 1967 . The Beatles spent much time rehearsing and improvising the song, with Paul McCartney at the piano suggesting ideas to the others in the group.

Eventually they recorded three takes of the basic rhythm track: two guitars, piano and drums. Take three was the best. After this they raided the Abbey Road sound effects collection, creating a tape loop of the sound of coaches to be added at the mixing stage.

On 26 April McCartney recorded his bass part, and all The Beatles plus Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans played percussion instruments, including tambourine, maracas and cowbell. McCartney, John Lennon , and George Harrison also taped extra vocals.

The following day still more vocals were added. McCartney taped his lead, with backing from Lennon and Harrison.

An overdub of four trumpets was added on 3 May . The session began by McCartney humming notes to the brass players to let them know what he wanted, but he mostly failed to get his intentions across.

In the end the players were sent away while McCartney and George Martin worked out the notation on the piano in Abbey Road’s studio three. One of the trumpeters, Gary Howarth, reportedly became so impatient that he wrote a score himself. According to Philip Jones, a friend of the session musicians, that was the idea The Beatles ended up using.

The recording of ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ was completed on 7 November . During the editing of the film, Lennon had added a spoken introduction: “Roll up, roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour! Step right this way! Hurry, hurry, hurry!” It was decided that this should be added to the record release too.

McCartney recreated Lennon’s spiel, although he left out the “Hurry, hurry, hurry!” section. A tape loop of traffic noise, assembled back on 25 April, was also added. The song was then mixed in stereo and mono.

Latest Comments

Hi all! Does anyone know what mix of this song was used in the ‘Anthology’? I have the original vinyl (Canadian) and the remasters, and the mix in ‘Anthology’ definitely has different panning; in my two versions the electric guitar is on the left with the drums, percussion, etc. In the ‘Anthology’ clip (chapter 7, 23:20-24:06,) the drums appear in both speakers, the percussion and piano remain on the left and the electric guitar is hard-panned to the right with the trumpets. By giving greater exposure to the electric guitar, piano and percussion in this way (the guitar and piano notes being in roughly the same range,) the mix “moves” more than the other one, creating more of a rock song. Does anyone A) notice this difference and B) know where to find this mix in its entirety? Thanks…

i’ve just checked my Anthology and it’s not on there as i thought, but the version of this song in the film is different to the released version, maybe it’s this mix you refer to? as it has been widely bootlegged.

i think the Anthology was the movie version. I myself have 3 versions of the song.

‘Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away,’ so that’s a kind of drug, ‘it’s dying to take you away’ so that’s a Tibetan Book of the Dead reference.’

I love Paul as a musician, but quotes like this are just stupid.

no its not. its really true. with a comment like that we can see , you know nothing about the beatles…

It’s not so stupid… ingesting LSD and other psychedelics produces a state of consciousness paralel to the one the brain experiences when it is dying. Hence the tibetan book of the dead reference.

No you are stupid not him. You clearly know nothing about the drug and the book yet u made a silly clueless comment.

Thank you dude Someone had to say it

Yeh I agree, I feel the fact John is constantly held up as the lyrical genius gets to him, and he feels the need to prove himself (including with his new book!). Such a talented musician, he doesn’t need to prove himself to anyone.

Yeah, I feel that way too. It’s the same as with “Got To Get You Into My Life”, which I don’t really believe was a love-letter to pot, despite Paul’s claims. Paul, to me, seems to feel the need to prove his edginess and counteract any suggestion that he’s a lightweight – like it’s not enough to be a brilliant musician and songwriter

Agreed, 100%. A real shame Paul made these retrospective comments…or felt he needed to. Lyrically, the songs don’t even fit the story he put out. ‘Got to get you into my life’ is the classic example…it’s a great uptempo love song and that’s it.

I disagree completely… just read the lyrics of the first verse! Even John posited that Got To Get You Into My Life was about LSD, so if anything Paul is retreating and making himself less edgy by saying it was pot. I think it’s telling when people conclude deceitful motives when none are apparent… sometimes you see what you want to see.

You are correct. It’s about acid, but Paul has downplayed that to say it’s an ode to weed, which is fine. Whoever said it’s just a love song is clueless.

I Think Paul knows what He wrote his songs about than us. Even Lennon said Got To Get You Into My Life was a drug song.

The rest of the song is good, but oh God just that coda in the end is sooo magical… incredible really. 😮

That’s always been my favorite part of the song, the haunting piano coda!

Who wrote/played that coda? It has a very emotional effect on me

Paul played the piano at the end there, I believe

Isn’t it, though? Amazing little thing. Beautiful

It really is, sounds like something that The Doors might do :] But what’s most impressive to me is drumming and this part, kind of 8 when Paul sings: “You got everything you need…”. It’s really good.

That piano coda sure sounds like Mike Garson. Listen to the piano solo in Aladdin Sane.

Paul gave John significant credit for helping to write this “Paul” song – one of the few examples where he does that.

Love Me Do, Paperback Writer, What You’re Doing, Here There And Everywhere, Good Day Sunshine, Penny Lane — even When I’m 64 could also be mentioned, but you’re right; there aren’t *that* many…songs that Paul seems to give John more credit than John himself seemed to feel he deserved.

John, it has to be said, did take *a lot* of credit. Was he right to? Possibly, but slightly more would be pushing it a bit, and I guess the same goes for Paul.

I am one of the rare people who actually likes this song better than SGT. Pepper. You gotta love the raw, heavy guitar on Pepper but there is just something about MMT, especially on the remasters. Also, its obvious that the beatles (other than Paul, and maybe Ringo) quit on there potential on some of their later songs. Too bad because MMT could have really been a masterpiece. I love Johns chorus at the end. His voice tone really cuts into me and I absolutely love the second part where he says “…dying to take you away…” Just think how much better this song could have been if he and George werent so distracted by this point.

Is that really John singing the last two “The Magical Mystery Tour is … “? I always thought so.

I agree, Nolan. Just think about how much better the entire MMT ALBUM would have been if John and George had been at least a LITTLE more enthusiastic. I imagine these recording sessions being dominated by Paul (partly out of necessity), while John and George yawned and constantly glanced at their watches. If they had been more “into it,” the whole album would have ended up more, uh… “magical.” Of course, Paul probably DID come off like an overbearing alpha dog, so the distaction of the rest of the group is not surprising.

Frankly the only “magic” in the soundtrack portion of MMT for me is John’s “I Am The Walrus” and George’s “Blue Jay Way”. I am grateful for the contributions of the “distracted” ones. As for the 1967 singles portion of MMT, John’s contributions of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “All You Need Is Love” (plus his half of “Baby, You’re A Rich Man”) are outstanding to say the least.

I agree with you, Joseph Brush. I think “Strawberry Fields Forever” and especially “All You Need Is Love” are the great songs. But I don’t like Blue Jay Way.

well Fool on the Hill and Your Mother Should Know, not to mention the previously-released Hello Goodbye, are all very typical Paul songs with great sing-along qualities and each has a bit of weirdness to keep it in line with the whole concept of the film/album. Add the singles and it’s really a great, great album. I don’t know if it’s fair to single out the John and George compositions and simply write off Paul’s efforts on this one.

I have to say that “Walrus” and “Strawberry Field” are phenomenal compositions by John and George Martin with the rest of the band doing their thing to back them up flawlessly. I just give Paul the slight overall edge in his contributions. He represents the frontman for me…Looking at all the beatles post work including Paul’s, it doesn’t even matter. Without all 4 of them together with the chemistry they had in relationship to one another, inspiring and demanding eachothers A+ game no matter what was going on, we wouldn’t even be having ongoing conversations like this 40 years later. Granted there are exceptions and if I ever get bored enough with their compact and complete catalogue, I would get a kick in naming the top 50 or 100 worst beatles songs. Paul would dominate that list as well but he also takes the cake in many of my all time favorite beatles songs. That’s why I love Paul’s work the most. He could afford produce some real clunkers because he could always make up for it ten times over with masterpiece after masterpiece. Hearing the remastered mono recording of MMT is really like experiencing this song for the first time for me. Comparing it to the 87’s is simply put an absolute disaster vs and absolute work of art. I always liked this song as a young boy. But I never loved it like the seemingly hundreds of other fantastic Beatles songs I got to experience over and over growing up.

“I am the Walrus” is certainly a fantastic song, but the most magical moment on MMT is the title song’s coda melting into “Fool on the Hill.”

I always liked the Walrus , Strawberry Fields and A Day in the Life. Lennon’s backing vocals make certain songs sound quite awesome. See how they run? It couldn’t get no worse? She’s leaving home ,bye,bye. I too felt the impact The Beatles made in the 60’s. They definitely had a different sound than their contemporaries. Obviously they were better together than apart. MMT was an interesting album. Capital records made a good decision by putting 1967’s singles on one side. Baby You’re a Rich Man is underrated. I agree with you regarding the mono mixes.

Dying is the ultimate Magical Mystery experience.

Love this song. It is just so fast paced and catchy.Basically a McCartney song. I also love the EP , film and album of the same name.

And the bassline, all the way through. One of Macca’s absolute best performances

Great title track for film, E.P. and album. Very 1967, would have been a hit if released as a single.

favorite song of all time, especially love John’s slow verse

Needless to say, I did ‘roll-up’ for the Magical Mystery Tour.

Which Beatle is the one giving the “Roll up” introduction at the beginning of the song? Does anyone out there know?

It was John in the film, but Paul on the record. Paul’s version was recorded on 7 November 1967 .

On the Cheap Trick cover of this song, on the bridge section I can clearly hear two voices overlapping, one is saying “Mystery Tour”, the other “Taking aTrip”. It’s harder to disentangle on the Beatles’ version, but is that what is happening? It actually sounds like Mystery Trip, but I think Cheap Trick have done us all a favour ?

Wow! I clearly hear “taking a trip” at slightly less volume than “mystery tour”. For years I’ve wondered what that garbled sounding second vocal was singing and now I know. Thanks!

It always sounded like ” a mystery trip” to me. (shrug).

There is no lead guitar in this song. Just two rhythm guitar parts.

Hello everyone! Can anyone explain why Magical Mystery Tour (song) is not treated as a Beatles hit, since the double EP with this recording as the title track entered the singles chart and shot to number 2. After all, this is an achievement equal to the success of the singles Please Please Me, SFF/PL or Let It Be. Moreover, like the single Please Please Me, in top music weekly newspaper Melody Maker, it reached number 1 for one week (January 13, 1968).

Even though the Magical Mystery Tour EP got to number 2 in the UK singles chart it is considered an EP and not a 45 stand alone single and therefore it does not qualify as a hit single.

Thanks for your reply, I know all of what you wrote, but my question still doesn’t have a clear, convincing answer. It is obvious that MMT was a double EP from a formal or technical point of view, but in terms of musical competition, i.e. classification on the charts, it was undoubtedly treated as a single. Thus, the title track should be considered another huge hit by The Beatles.

I understand what you say and ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ is a very well known song but as I said previously it was not a single. It was a Double EP. EP’s would often climb into the singles chart as all the early Beatles EPs did. ‘Long Tall Sally’ EP from 1964 is another example. It got to No.1 in the singles charts but is not considered a huge hit in the UK. The ‘All My Loving’ EP from 1964 also reached No.1 but ‘All My Loving’ is not considered a single. The fact that they wrote ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ makes no difference. All EPs were considered as singles in as much as they got into the singles chart in the UK and they all had single chart placings. ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ gets plenty of airplay on radio. I don’t think it gets treated any differently apart from the fact that it was not a single so is therefore not included on Beatles single compilations. See Here for more info. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_play?wprov=sfti1

Sheldon, thank you kindly. The matter is clear to me now.

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Magical Mystery Tour

Though wedged between the comparatively giant Sgt. Pepper’s and 1968’s White Album, Magical Mystery Tour nevertheless played a part in The Beatles' story, and put a cap on a year in which the band made yet more music nobody was totally prepared for them to make. The album was released as a companion to a meandering, band-directed movie, and its first half is probably one of the lowest-stakes sides in the band’s catalog—a relief, in a way, from how high-stakes their music had become. Still, this was The Beatles in 1967—momentum was strong. What had started out as a string of acid playground rhymes turned into Lennon’s angriest song this side of 1970 (“I Am the Walrus”), while McCartney’s simple sentimentality had taken on a quality that felt stoic, almost abstract (“The Fool on the Hill”). There was a rare instrumental (“Flying”), a foggy Harrison drone (“Blue Jay Way”), and an invocation of the past by McCartney that blurred lines between sweet and eerie (“Your Mother Should Know”). While the band had helped rechristen the album format as an artistic statement unto itself, they were still releasing singles—as in tracks that weren’t associated with any album. Designed primarily as a consumer service, the second half of Magical Mystery Tour collected what they’d offered in 1967. The yin-yang of McCartney’s “Penny Lane” and Lennon’s “Strawberry Fields Forever” (originally released on the same 7-inch record) arguably says more about what ground the band covered in seven minutes than any other two songs in their catalog—the former baroque, charming, and upbeat; the latter dense and melancholy—variations on a theme of seemingly simple pasts refracted, dreamlike, through the present. And if “I Am the Walrus” was Lennon’s dark foray into contradiction and surreality, McCartney’s “Hello, Goodbye” was its bright counterpart. “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” probably doesn’t get the credit it deserves. “All You Need Is Love,” debuted to an estimated 400 million people in the world’s first live international satellite TV production (Our World), did receive wide acclaim, and while cynicism and embarrassment about 1967’s Summer of Love would set in as soon as a few years later, it probably deserves more. As for the movie that gave the album its name, press coverage of it was so uniformly hostile (not to mention viewer feedback to the BBC switchboard so sustained) that McCartney went on the BBC the day after it first aired to defuse the tension. Asked why he thought people didn’t like it, McCartney said he wasn’t sure—he liked it fine.

November 27, 1967 12 Songs, 40 minutes This Compilation ℗ 2009 Calderstone Productions Limited (a division of Universal Music Group)

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Magical mystery tour.

Release date: 27 November 1967

(Spoken lyric) Roll up, roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour. Step right this way!

Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour. Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.

Roll up, and that's an invitation, Roll up for the mystery tour. Roll up, to make a reservation, Roll up for the mystery tour.

The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away, Waiting to take you away.

Roll up, we've got ev'rything you need Roll up for the mystery tour. Roll up, satisfaction guaranteed, Roll up for the mystery tour.

The Magical Mystery Tour is hoping to take you away, Hoping to take you away.

The mystery trip.

The Magical Mystery Tour. Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.

The Magical Mystery Tour is coming to take you away, Coming to take you away.

The Magical Mystery Tour is dying to take you away, dying to take you away, take you today.

"Magical Mystery Tour" is a song by the Beatles, the opening track and theme song for the album, double EP and TV film of the same name. Unlike the theme songs for their other film projects, it was not released as a single.

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The Meaning Behind “Magical Mystery Tour” by The Beatles and the Subtext Running Just Beneath the Surface

by Jim Beviglia February 27, 2024, 8:00 am

Four individual movies about the four Beatles due in 2027? Sounds like a fascinating project, just like the one the Fab Four embarked on when they made the film Magical Mystery Tour in 1967. Although the film served as fodder for critics, the title track delivered a jolt of psychedelic energy and still stands as one of The Beatles ‘ most strikingly original singles.

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What does this song mean? What exactly is a “Magical Mystery Tour”? And why was the film that contained it one of the few artistic endeavors by The Beatles met with less than universal acclaim? Let’s take a look at the origin and meaning of this classic.

“Tour” of Duty

It’s a common misconception that The Beatles made the Magical Mystery Tour film because they insisted on pressing on with some project following the death of their manager Brian Epstein . In truth, the “Magical Mystery Tour” song sessions took place months before Epstein’s death in September 1967, and filming for the movie was already underway when he died.

In any case, Paul McCartney did indeed push for the band to continue a busy pace in 1967, perhaps to stave off the lethargy that might have accompanied their lack of touring. Hence, the sessions for “Magical Mystery Tour” took place just days after the group had put a bow on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band . McCartney explained in the Barry Miles’ book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now what inspired the song:

“John and I remembered mystery tours, and we always thought this was a fascinating idea: getting on a bus and not knowing where you were going. Rather romantic and slightly surreal! All these old dears with the blue rinses going off to mysterious places. Generally there’s a crate of ale in the boot of the coach and you sing lots of songs. It’s a charabanc trip. So we took that idea and used it as a basis for a song and the film.”

John Lennon and McCartney wrote the song from that basic idea. The recording manages to sound both refreshingly old-fashioned, thanks to the bright, shiny brass, and eerily forward-looking, courtesy of the somewhat unsettling coda. It was yet another example of The Beatles’ ability to meld different music styles, all while keeping things undeniably catchy. The group released the song as a single in the United Kingdom to precede the film’s release, and it went to No. 2 in the British charts.

As for the film, The Beatles created a surreal pastiche that felt less like a coherent film and more like a collection of skits. Its avant-garde silliness isn’t all that unlike what Monty Python would do in the coming years. But at the time, viewers and critics were baffled. The Fab Four had to endure some of the first negative reviews of their career. The music, which included beauties like the title track, “The Fool on the Hill,” and “I Am the Walrus,” proved that they were certainly on top of their game in that department.

The Meaning of “Magical Mystery Tour”

Taken at face value, “Magical Mystery Tour” does indeed refer to a bus trip. But there’s a subtext running just below the surface that isn’t too hard to realize. The year 1967, when the song was released, stood out as a time in history when drug experimentation was running rampant through the culture. The Beatles had already used a few of their songs to promote psychedelia, including when they sang, I’d love to turn you on at the end of “A Day in the Life” to close out Sgt. Pepper’s .

That idea seems to be working its way through “Magical Mystery Tour.” McCartney, who sings the lead vocal, takes on the role of a barker trying to get crowds of people to join the traveling circus: Roll up for the magical mystery tour / Step right this way . You can certainly take it literally if you wish. But the idea of a mystery trip that’s going to take you away certainly could refer to tripping on acid or some other recreational drug.

Perhaps that’s why the movie failed. It attempted to put definitive visuals on a mind-altering journey. But it couldn’t quite capture the flights of fancy conjured by the song “Magical Mystery Tour,” which gives you the perfect soundtrack for the movie in your mind.

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Arts | How will ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ be solved…

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Arts | earthquake shakes connecticut, felt across wide swathe of east coast, arts | how will ‘the mystery of edwin drood’ be solved at the goodspeed holmes lets the audience decide.

Rupert Holmes is a mystery. He also writes them. The songwriter, playwright and novelist is the author of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” the 1985 Broadway hit that is having a major new production April 5 through June 2 at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam.

Holmes is a pop culture chameleon who has written dozens of plays and musicals, created the cult TV series “Remember WENN,” written for Barbra Streisand and had his own pop hits.

Since the success of “Drood”, Holmes has written the theater mysteries “Accomplice” and “Curtains” and even adapted R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” series for the stage. He’s also penned several novels which, while technically not mysteries, really are mysteries. “Where the Truth Lies” explored the deep secret behind the break-up of a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis-like comedy team. “Swing” was a wartime thriller which contained a coded message in an original big band song on a CD included with the book. “Murder Your Employer: The McMaster Guide to Homicide,” about a school for austere assassins, was released a year ago, became a national bestseller and will lead to sequels.

Holmes’ biggest pop hit, “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” is also a mystery story of sorts, with a surprise romantic twist at the end. His song “Timothy,” a top 20 hit for The Buoys in 1972, is a perverse pop classic in which the title character, a miner, appears to have been eaten by his co-workers when trapped in a cave-in. “Timothy” is written for maximum “is that what they’re singing about?” impact.

Even his name evokes mystery. Born David Goldstein, he said, “When I was a songwriter, if your name was David Goldstein you changed your name.” He recalls someone in the music industry meeting him with this handshake greeting. “They tell me you’re David Goldstein. What’s your name?” He called himself Julian Gill for a year, then changed it again. The “Rupert” in his name is a nod to his British heritage. The “Holmes” is due to Sherlock.

Holmes has another theater project heading to Connecticut this year. A one-woman show he wrote, “All Things Equal: The Life & Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg” is on tour and will play the Westport Country Playhouse May 3-5. “I wrote it during COVID when I wasn’t sure how we’d do theater anymore. The actor, Michelle Azar, is astonishing. I love shows where the audience has a role to play, when you find a conceit by which this person is talking directly to you.” In the play, the late Supreme Court Justice is having a private conversation with a friend of her granddaughter.

Holmes was in East Haddam last month to meet the cast and creative team of the Goodspeed’s “The Mystery Edwin Drood.” He’s wanted to see the show done there for years.

“The Mystery Edwin Drood” is based on an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. Holmes’ ingenious solution to the book’s lack of an ending is to create a multitude of possible endings in which any one of eight different performers can be declared the murderer in the mystery, as voted upon by the audience. The show is performed as if it were being done by a theater troupe in Dickens’ time.

The musical was commissioned by Joseph Papp, founder of the New York Public Theater. He’d heard some of Holmes’ songs, which led to him attending one of his live performances.

“I was emphasizing comedy in the act,” Holmes explained. “I’d noticed that if you go to a concert of any band you like, you dread when they say ‘We’re going to play something from our new album.’ You want to hear the hits. But with a comedian, it’s the complete opposite. You’re disappointed if it’s old material. Now, most Rupert Holmes fans only knew two of my songs: ‘Escape’ and ‘Him.’ Doing an act where most of my songs were new to the listener, if I did comedy set-ups the audiences would be comfortable.

“Joe Papp saw that and said ‘You’re doing musical theater. Have you ever done a musical?’ I said I hadn’t, and he asked what musical I wanted to write,” Holmes recalled. “I said ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood.’ I wrote down every idea I had — a company putting on a play, Drood played by a woman — and brought it to them. The Public liked it, I said ‘I’ll come back with Act I’ and a year later they bought it.

“Joe Papp was the first person to pick the show’s ending,” Homes added. “Then, the day before we opened, he was a little panicky and said ‘I’ve got the answer: one ending!’ I said, ‘You mean the raison d’etre of the whole show was just abandoned?!'”

Papp got over his qualms and the unique finale remained.

Holmes calls the concept of sharing a mystery tale with the audience and then having them solve it dynamic.

“The cast members don’t know if they’re in the spotlight or the background,” he said. There are hundreds of possible combinations for the ending, including seven different prime candidates for who is the detective in disguise. Holmes said different productions can yield different responses from the audience and that he’s seen the most voted-upon candidates change during the run of a single production. “Originally, no one picked the sister and brother. In the 2020s it happens all the time,” he added.

The original Broadway production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” was not just mysterious but magical. The New York Public Theater had just had a hit with Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance” and its director, choreographer, scenic designer and even its model Major General (the ebullient actor George Rose) all made “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” their next project. “They all knew each other. I was an heir to all that. It was such an education for someone who had never done a musical before,” Holmes said.

The Goodspeed production is directed by Rob Ruggiero, also known as the producing artistic director of TheaterWorks Hartford. For some of the many shows he’s directed at the Goodspeed, Ruggiero has been charged with revising or updating them for current tastes and needs. For a revival of “Rags,” he was working with a heavily rewritten book and score. But for “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” Ruggiero promises a truly traditional production with no script changes. This version is in line with the 2012 revival at New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company.

He’s taking the traditional route because the director feels the musical’s historical time period is perfectly aligned with the vibe of the Goodspeed Opera House itself. “Looking at the British music halls where theater troupes like the one in this show would play, they look just like the Goodspeed,” Ruggiero said.

Rupert Holmes agreed. “I’ve always thought this is where ‘Drood’ should be.”

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” runs April 5 through June 2 at the Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main St., East Haddam. Performances are Wednesdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 6:30 p.m. $30-$86. goodspeed.org/shows/Drood .

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3 best mystery books to read this spring

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Dying to Know

3 Mystery Writers Answer Burning Questions If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

Explore the mysteries of fictional and real worlds with four Los Angeles writers who pay homage to giants of the genre while creating stories that are irresistible in their own right.

The Murder of Mr. Ma By S.J. Rozan and John Shen Yen Nee Soho Crime: 312 pages, $26

“The Murder of Mr. Ma” combines first-time author John Shen Yen Nee’s experience in comics and digital storytelling with the mystery-writing chops of veteran S.J. Rozan. The novel reimagines two Chinese historical figures — magistrate Di Renjie, popularized in Judge Dee mysteries and numerous film adaptations, and novelist Lao She — and drops them into 1924 London, a period rich in Sino-British intrigue. Twentysomething Lao She is a lecturer attempting to teach Chinese to “people whose need to learn it far outstripped their interest in doing so” and looking for an idea for a novel when he’s asked by Bertrand Russell to help the renowned Judge Dee escape from jail, where he’s been rounded up with a group of Chinese agitators. Though their plan goes sideways, Lao She and Judge Dee form a bond that carries them into the murder investigation of Ma Ze Ren, a Chinese national and shop owner who served with the Chinese Labour Corps in France during WWI.

Drawing inspiration from the Holmes/Watson dynamic and the long tradition of gong’an crime fiction in China, the intrepid duo’s investigation draws readers into the Chinese presence in WWI and postwar London. Along the way, they reveal the intersection of real-life figures like Russell and Ezra Pound in Sino-British relations, the early British film industry’s lucrative “yellow peril films” and much more. Also engrossing are the rich details of Chinese culture and traditions familiar to readers of Rozan’s Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mysteries, while the vivid action scenes feel as visceral as a Chow Yun-fat circular kick with double forearm strike.

A sparkling and thought-provoking debut of a fresh dynamic duo whose adventures I’ll be eager to follow.

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Although you have independently had success in different creative fields, yours is a first-time collaboration. What did each of you bring to the pairing?

S.J. Rozan : John brought more historical knowledge and understanding than anyone I’d ever met. He also brought the outline, which was a great gift. I’m not an outliner; I can’t create a character until I see her act. The process of writing my own books is filled with angst. John had a complete story.

John Shen Yen Nee : Which S.J. operated on, surgically removing parts and Frankensteining other things in. And then she gave the characters three full dimensions, gave the settings atmosphere and gave the story rhythm.

How do you reimagine the historical Di Renjie? And why pair him with Lao She?

Rozan : The relationship between the real Judge Dee and the stories translated by, and the new ones written by, Robert van Gulik is a bit like that between the real Robin Hood and the stories about him. There was such a man, but the legend outgrew him. So we felt allowed to add to the legend.

Nee : The historical Judge Dee was known for solving all his cases, and for exacting demanding justice. He wasn’t a physical hero, a martial artist. We added that. Lao She, a writer revered in China, then banned, then “rehabilitated” and once again revered, seemed like the perfect soft-spoken, smart, brave but slightly behind narrator to tell Dee’s stories.

Who is your favorite Golden Age mystery writer and why?

Nee : Hands down, it’s Agatha Christie. I really liked the way that she used Captain Hastings as a narrator with Hercule Poirot. I’m a giant fan of Poirot, and I thought it would be fun to create a Chinese detective that wasn’t a caricature of the “Insidious Chinaman” (Fu Manchu) or someone like Charlie Chan.

Rozan : Christie for me too. She’s admired for her plots, but I don’t think she gets enough credit for her understanding of people, of motive. Motive is what has always interested me.

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The Stars Turned Inside Out By Nova Jacobs Atria Books: 320 pages, $28

In 2018’s Edgar-nominated debut, “The Last Equation of Isaac Severy,” Nova Jacobs incorporated STEM into a mystery that was approachable and highly engaging. She’s at it again with “The Stars Turned Inside Out,” set among physicists working at the CERN laboratory’s Large Hadron Collider outside of Geneva. A CERN engineer discovers the body of recent hire Howard Anderby in an LHC tunnel shut down for repairs, presumably killed by radiation exposure. Yet the collider had not been turned on nor do videos of the tunnel show anyone present.

The CERN director calls in Sabine Leroux, a “consulting detective” and friend, to secretly investigate. Chapters from the point of view of Leroux — an outsider who employs Poirot-inspired investigative methods — contrast with those centered on Eve Marsh, a young postdoctoral physicist and colleague crushing on the handsome Anderby while harboring her own secrets and professional worries.

While the novel exposes the professional rivalries and hidden desires of a sensitively drawn group of Anderby’s colleagues and frenemies, it’s also a touching story about love and friendship, born of sorrow and guilt. Then the novel takes a metaphysical turn that is wholly unexpected. Who knew particle physics could be so bewitching?

What inspired you to combine physics and a locked-room mystery?

I didn’t initially think of my book as a locked-room mystery, though I very much set out to write a classic whodunit in a physics setting. It was the CERN laboratory’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that first captivated my imagination, not just as an intensely complex machine but also as very much its own place unlike any on Earth. I saw a 2013 documentary about CERN, which features a shot of an engineer bicycling through the LHC tunnel during a collider shutdown. The contrast between this sophisticated machine and the very low-tech manner in which engineers travel along the pipe really delighted me.

Why did you write two such different but engaging central characters?

I didn’t want every single character to be a scientist, which seemed a recipe for a static story. I was interested in creating some kind of tension between science and not-science . So in switching between a woman who has devoted her life to particle physics yet is questioning her own choices (Eve) and a detective who’s rejected a strictly scientific path (Sabine), I was able to create that necessary push and pull in the novel between the sciences and the lay world.

Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers are inescapable early loves and ongoing favorites. But G.K. Chesterton is up there for me simply for “The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare,” which is one of the most inventive mysteries I’ve ever encountered. It also reads as a kind of spy thriller, with a speculative depth lurking beneath its multiple switchbacks in plot. It remains one of the most buoyant, mischievous and surprisingly metaphysical pieces of fiction I’ve ever read.

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A Better World By Sarah Langan Atria Books: 368 pages, $29

In “A Better World,” Sarah Langan paints a disturbing picture of a late 21st century world not that far removed from our own. In the United Colonies and around the world, it’s the “Era of the Great Unwinding,” a time when “the institutions, laws and even the bridges and roads that people had come to depend upon were falling apart.” Those with the means and connections are fleeing to company towns. One such town is Plymouth Valley, or PV as it’s called by insiders, in South Dakota. Owned by BetterWorld, makers of Omnium, a biodegradable polymer made from recycled plastic, PV is the seat of operations for the multinational conglomerate and home to its top executives and scientists.

It’s also the last chance for the Farmer-Bowens family, Brooklynites drowning in debt, rising waters and crime. Linda Farmer’s job as part-time pediatrician at a free clinic doesn’t cover the bills. Her husband, Russell Bowens, has been laid off from his job as a science advisor in the EPA’s regulatory department. Then the family is thrown a lifeline — a job for Russell at BetterWorld, plus all living and education expenses paid. The job also comes with the ultimate perk — a golden ticket to live in PV forever, earned for the family once Russell satisfactorily completes 25 years of service. Bottom line, the recruiter tells them: “Your children will be set for life.” It’s a sacrifice any parent would make, right? What could be wrong with that?

Turns out plenty, much of it revolving around a set of customs called Hollow, a genetically engineered carnivorous bird called a caladrius and the increasingly bizarre behavior of the cosmetically perfect locals. As the family tries to fit in, Linda begins investigating what an unhinged mother swears is the kidnapping of her two children, both of whom are fighting a rare form of cancer. A potent cocktail of horror, suspense and thriller, “A Better World” is a cautionary tale of a family’s sacrifice gone wrong and a high-water mark in the career of a novelist who’s already won three Bram Stoker Awards. My only warning: Don’t start this book on a school night. Beware the sacrifice!

To put it mildly, Plymouth Valley is a company town on steroids. What inspired it?

About 10 years ago, a friend gave me a tour of the Google offices in Manhattan. They’re fantastic. They have everything; you never need to leave. Plus, everyone there is hard-working and pleasant — the kinds of people you’d love to spend time with and learn from. I can see the appeal. Who wouldn’t take that job?

In my fictional town, the have-nots are all outside PV’s high walls and therefore invisible. But the kinds of people who can tolerate that cognitive dissonance — their work scaffolds their privilege but also hurts the world — tend to become erratic and prone to magical thinking. They’ll believe any story, submit to any absurdity, so long as they don’t have to admit they’re the villains.

For all of the thriller and horror tropes in “A Better World,” I was intrigued by the intimate portrait of the Farmer-Bowens family. Can you share a bit about why families in distress are so central to your story?

Families fascinate me. We all come from family; we’re all seeking chosen families. The good and the bad that we learned from our birth families, we project onto our new families. Through our children, we understand our parents. Or we understand them a lot less than we thought.

What both this novel and my last, “Good Neighbors,” have in common is this question: How much would you sacrifice for your children? How much of your own morality would you violate to keep them safe? And the question that comes after that: Should you sacrifice that much? Is it good for you? For them? For the world?

I felt like there were a lot of classic genre echoes in “A Better World” — Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” Ira Levin’s “The Stepford Wives” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” even Aldous Huxley’s “1984.” Were there classic genre writers on your mind as you were writing the book?

I had those works on my mind, as well as “The Handmaid’s Tale” for its theocratic world-building. And Alice Munro’s “The Beggar Maid” never leaves my thoughts. A book I’d also like to shout out, because not enough people have read it, is Kate Wilhelm’s “Where Late the Sweet Birds Sing.” In preparation for writing “A Better World,” I also watched “Chinatown.” I was inspired by the great conspiracy at the center of the story, and [John] Huston’s villain. I mean , that’s a villain!

A member of the National Book Critics Circle, Woods is the editor of several anthologies and four novels in the “Charlotte Justice” mystery series.

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