Curtains: David Hyde Pierce returns as 'Frank Cioffi' after his one week vacation

David Hyde Pierce, the Tony Award winning star of the Broadway musical Curtains, returns to the show on 16 Oct 2007, after his one week vacation. The role of 'Lieutenant Frank Cioffi' was played by John Bolton during Pierce's absence.

Curtains: A Backstage Murder Mystery Musical Comedy, opened at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre on 22 Mar 2007, following previews from 27 Feb 2007. The musical is currently booking through to 24 Feb 2008.

Curtains is set in 1959 in Boston during the pre-Broadway tryout of a new musical called Robin Hood. When the leading lady mysteriously dies onstage during the applause at the end of the show, the entire company and creative team are possible suspects; their various motives must be sorted out by a local detective (Pierce) who happens to be a musical theater fan.

The show opened to mixed reviews: "Brings a gust of giddy good fun to Broadway." (New York Daily News); "Delightful fun-ride of a musical" (The Record); "A faint but nonetheless refreshing blast of air." (New York Sun); "A thoroughly entertaining new musical" (Ass'd Press); "Talent-packed, thrill-starved production" (New York Times); "It's not so much a whodunit as a whydoit." (New York Post); "Likable at best."
(NewsDay); "A most fitting memorial for Ebb and Stone" (NewYorkTheatreGuide.com).

Curtains had its world premiere in the summer of 2006 at Los Angeles' Center Theatre's Ahmanson Theatre.

The show, directed by Scott Ellis with choreography by Rob Ashford, features David Hyde Pierce (Lieutenant Frank Cioffi), Debra Monk (producer Carmen Bernstein), Karen Ziemba (lyricist Georgia Hendricks), Jason Danieley (composer Aaron Fox), Ernie Sabella (producer Sidney Bernstein), Jill Paice (ing�nue Niki Harris), Edward Hibbert (director Christopher Belling), John Bolton (theatre critic Daryl Grady), Michael X. Martin (stage manager Johnny Harmon), Michael McCormick (investor Oscar Shapiro), Noah Racey (choreographer Bobby Pepper) and Megan Sikora (understudy Bambi Bern�t).

David Hyde Pierce won the 2007 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.The show was nominated for Tony's in several other categories including: Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography.

Curtains has book by Rupert Holmes - based on a concept by the late Peter Stone, score by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, with additional lyrics by Rupert Holmes.

Curtains is the last musical to be written by composer Kander and late lyricist Ebb.

Set design is by Anna Louizos, with costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Peter Kaczorowski and sound by Brian Ronan.

Curtains is produced on Broadway by Roger Berlind, Roger Horchow, Daryl Roth, Jane Berg�re, Ted Hartley and Center Theatre Group.