Death Rattle (musical)

Death Rattle (musical)
Type	Musical
Director	Oliver Putnam Jerry Blau (formerly)
Producer	Donna DeMeo Cliff DeMeo

Death Rattle, also known as Death Rattle Dazzle!, is an in-universe musical featured in Only Murders in the Building.

Death Rattle Dazzle: A Death Rattle Musical

Death Rattle, the musical version, also known as Death Rattle Dazzle, is the musical version of the play of the same name written by Oliver Putnam after the straight play was panned by Maxine Spear because it 'didn't sing'. It was produced by Donna DeMeo and her son, Cliff, as his first producing effort. It was also the Broadway debut for Loretta Durkin.

Plot

Though the full plot is never fully shown, from the songs and dialogue between characters we can pull certain conclusions about the plot. The premise remains pretty much as the play version; a woman is thrown from the top of the Pickwick Lighthouse to her death, choked by a baby's rattle. However, rather than a single male child being in the room, it is a set of triplets. One girl named Penelope, and two boys named Patrick and Paco.

In foggy, upper Nova Scotia, a detective arrives to investigate the murder of the Mother, as explained in the show's 'showstopper' number, Creatures of the Night. He name checks the other members of the cast as potential suspects.

From then, we move onto The Nanny's Lullaby, where we are introduced to the leading lady of the show. From then, we learn very little until the song Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?, where we see the show's constable accuse all three babies of potentially killing the mother. By the end of the song, he appears to move on from this spiral, seeming to accuse another unseen character of having a motive. The song ends, and the audience never sees this character. It is implied the Constable dies for reaching this conclusion, since Uma in the audience remarks 'Didn't the Constable die, like, three scenes ago?' to Matthew Broderick in the audience.

During the play, it is presumed all the named characters have been murdered by the same killer. This is true of the original stage play, given the Detective's line as rehearsed by Ben Glenroy with his sewing circle. There is never any other confirmation of this, nor are there any musical numbers to explain it. However, none of the characters other than the Nanny, the Constable, and the Detective are seen past the opening number.

In the closing number, For the Sake of a Child, it is revealed that the Detective is, in fact, the killer. He reveals to the Nanny that he is the real father of the triplets, and has come to take them away. This is implied to be his motive for killing the Mother in the beginning. It is unknown what has happened to the rest of the cast, though it is inferred that everyone apart from the Detective and the Nanny are dead by the end. The two of them fight one another for the sake of the children, with the Nanny triumphing by pushing the Detective off the lighthouse in the struggle.

Cast

The Detective - Jonathan Bridgecroft / Oliver Putnam

• The Detective is the main character and the leading man of the show. He is supposed to be the protagonist, though he is later revealed to be the killer. Jonathan Bridgecroft was initially supposed to play the role, but on opening night he was incapacitated due to the 'leading man cocktail' so Oliver stepped in to take over. Ben Glenroy was originally supposed to play the role in the play and Jonathan was his understudy. Though he never actually performed the musical, Cliff DeMeo has a hallucination of Ben performing the closing number alongside Loretta rather than Oliver.

The Nanny - Loretta Durkin

• The Nanny is the leading lady of the show. She is the true protagonist of the show, being the only adult character to survive until the end and defeating the Detective to save the triplets. She almost had to be recast, as Loretta had an offer to be in a television drama. She, however, chose to stay with the show due to her love of the musical and her feelings for Oliver.

The Father - Ty Wessex

• The Father has no real lines in what we see in the show, though we are to assume this is who everyone believes is the father of the triplets. By the end of the show, he is more than likely dead. It is also revealed that he wasn't really their father at all.

The Godmother - Kimber Min

• The Godmother is presumably the godmother of the triplets, implying she knew the Mother well. Though Kimber is praised by Oliver as one of the only cast members who can actually sing, the Godmother doesn't have her own number shown on screen. We see her harmonizing with Loretta in the first performance of the Nanny's Lullaby to the producers, though this version of the song is not kept in the stage performance. Her character presumably dies before the end, killed by the Detective.

The Constable - Charles-Haden Savage

• The Constable is the character who investigates alongside the Detective. He seems incapable of a case of this magnitude, focusing on the babies as potential suspects and spiraling mentally until he reaches an epiphany about who else might have done it. He is seemingly killed by the Detective three scenes before the finale for realizing his true identity. He was almost played by Matthew Broderick when Charles briefly quit the show.

The Boatman - Bobo Malone

• The Boatman is the character we know the least about, other than he is the comic relief. It seems to be an inside joke that he's a joke character, since everyone mentions Bobo, though he is the character with the least presence. He doesn't appear in any stage numbers, though he is presumably present in the opening number, doubling up as one of the crabmen.

Though the Mother and the triplets are named, they are played by a mannequin and dolls, respectively in the production. There are also members of the ensemble playing crab-men and mermaids in the opening number.

Known Musical Numbers

• Creatures of the Night - Sung by the Detective and the ensemble
• Look for the Light - Sung by the Nanny and the Godmother
• Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It? - Sung by the Constable
• For the Sake of a Child - Sung by the Nanny and the Detective