AN award-winning musical based on Charles Dickens' final novel will be performed by the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society (BMDS) next week.Unfinished at the time of Dickens' death, The Mystery of Edwin Drood was adapted into a musical comedy and opened to tremendous Broadway success in 1985.

The latter version will showcase at Daylesford Theatre, May 2 through 12, under the name Drood.At its crux is a murder — audience members are required to decide whodunnit — however its score is a seductive part of the plot."It truly offers something for everyone," explained musical director Lisa Maule. "There are a couple of operatic aria type numbers, a couple of rumpty-tum pieces, there really is a wide range."

Musical numbers include The Wage of Sin, Perfect Strangers, Both Sides of the Coin, Don't Quit While You're Ahead and>Moonfall.

Readers have often speculated what the ending of Dickens' novel might have been had he been able to complete it before his death in 1870. The musical's creator, Rupert Holmes, decided to allow the audience to choose from a selection of alternate endings to determine which of the potential killers actually murdered Edwin Drood.

As described in a brief synopsis provided by the BMDS: "This wildly warm-hearted theatrical experience kicks off when the Music Hall Royale (a hilariously loony Victorian musical troupe) puts on its flamboyant rendition of an unfinished Dickens mystery. The story itself deals with John Jasper, a Jekyll-and-Hyde choirmaster who is quite madly in love with his music student, the fair Miss Rosa Bud. Now Miss Bud is, in turn, engaged to Jasper's nephew, young Edwin Drood. Our title character disappears mysteriously one stormy Christmas Eve — but has Edwin Drood been murdered? And if so, then whodunnit? The giddy playfulness of this play-within-a-play draws the audience toward one of Drood's most talked-about features, which allows the audience to vote on the solution as prelude to the most unusual and hilarious finaleI>

The Mystery of Edwin Drood has received many honours since it was first performed on stage: Tony and New York Drama Desk awards for best musical, best book and best score, two national tours, a stay at The Kennedy Centre Opera House, and a West End run at London's Savoy Theatre where Gilbert and Sullivan debuted the Victorian musicals that so inspired it.

The musical represents a first for Mrs. Maule — her role as musical director has historically been limited to her teaching responsibilities at Saltus.

"The musical community is very small in Bermuda, everyone knows everyone. They asked if I was interested and I said yes," she said, admitting she was initially a bit nervous about directing the more experienced cast members.

"At first I found it a bit daunting - I knew how talented the cast was. They're all great singers. But they have been great. They're very dedicated, there's a high degree of professionalism. And it's great to be working with a professional director. "I think people will really enjoy the variety of music. I think there's something in there for everyone to enjoy. It's funny. It's light-hearted. There's lots of audience participation — the audience doesn't just sit there and kind of drift off." Drood <$>runs at the Daylesford Theatre May 2 through 12 at 8 p.m. Matinee performances are scheduled for May 5 and 12 at 3 p.m. There is no performance on May 6.

Tickets, $35, are available at the Daylesford box office April 27, and April 30 through May 1, between 5.30 and 7 p.m. Tickets are also available one hour before performances and during box office hours by telephone, on 292-0848. To buy tickets online, visit www.bmds.b