"Shear Madness"
Meadow Brooke Theatre
Rochester, Mich.
May 31, 2025
When I think of murder mystery shows, images of a historic mansion full of wealthy people in gowns and tuxedos come to mind. Meadow Brook Theatre’s production of Paul Pörtner's “Shear Madness” takes the whodunit format and places it inside a salon, adding a healthy dose of corny comedy and an interactive element that allows audience members to guide the story. The show is directed by Meadow Brook Theatre Artistic Director Travis Walter.
The nature of the play sets the salon in the location of the theater in which it is performed, in this case, modern(ish?) Rochester, Mich. Tony Whitcomb (Francis Kelly) and Barbara Demarco (Leslie Ann Handelman) are hairdressers in the Shear Madness salon, patronized by Mikey Thomas (Chris Stinson), Eddie Lawrence (Stephen Blackwell), Nick O’Brien (Joseph Delguste) and Mrs. Shubert (Lynnae Lehfeldt). Above them lives an unseen wealthy, retired pianist – with various ties to the characters – whose frequent practicing causes annoyance.
When a murder is committed, officers engage the help of the audience to retrace the first scenes of the show and question witnesses. The interrogation continues throughout intermission – when audience members can engage with the characters directly – and the first part of Act II, before the show resumes, and the murderer is revealed.
Though “Shear Madness” is a mystery, it’s a comedy above all else, and a corny one at that. The characters lean heavily into stereotypes. Kelly plays Tony as a flamboyant, gay hairstylist whose hyperactive loquaciousness keeps the show’s energy high. Handelman as Barbara embodies the sassy, colorful hairdresser, whose thick New Jersey (?) accent seems appropriate for the character, but not for the illusion of the show’s Michigan setting. (Maybe she’s a transplant; I’ll let it go.) Lehfeldt is the wealthy socialite with a glamorous life but her own set of secrets. Delguste's, Blackwell's and Stinson’s characters are less defined but still important parts of the story served well by the actors.
The show incorporates a lot of physical comedy. Kelly’s barber is not shy with the foam to lather up Delguste for a shave, wielding a straight-edge razor with a manic energy that makes you wonder if we are heading into “Sweeney Todd” territory. I was also impressed with Handelman’s skills, washing, setting and styling Lehfeldt’s hair on stage.
Along with adapting its location, the play adjusts its language to incorporate local references. In this case, those include mentions of the Detroit Tigers, shopping at Meijer, attending Oakland University and the University of Michigan, and general references to people from Romeo, Pontiac and Bingham Farms, plus hyperlocal street references that went beyond my personal knowledge. While I did appreciate the attempts to personalize the story, the “local” jokes weren’t specific or relevant enough to fully land. After the first few times, it was almost cringey and came off as trying too hard. “Stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen!” you know?
The sprinkling of modern political jokes about the Trump tariffs and Marjorie Taylor Greene yelling – and a random '90s throwback about the Clintons – were funnier to me. I also enjoyed the play on mistaken words, like how the pianist had taken Viagra to help her perform, though she needed help when the concert lasted more than four hours.
But the first 45ish minutes of the show were a true barrage of the corny jokes, which was getting quite tedious for my friend and me (although the rest of the audience appeared to be all about it). I was grateful when the lights came up and the interactive part of the show began.
That’s where the fun really started for us. While I realized how truly poor of a witness I would be if ever I got called in for an investigation, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the audience play detective. They were fully engaged – full of questions, challenging less-than-truthful suspects and in it to win it.
The actors themselves led the show skillfully, never missing a beat upon questioning and always managing to guide the audience back to the story they were trying to tell. The feat was more impressive considering multiple endings were possible, depending on the interaction with the audience.
While “Shear Madness” wasn't my favorite type of humor, it was a fun show whose interactive element offered a level of engagement and improvisation that made the experience all the more entertaining. And for those who really like the play, no two performances are ever the same, and repeat visits may yield some surprises.
