Audience chooses ending to musical

The five-time Tony Award-winning musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" promises to bring audiences a wildly and highly theatrical story when it opens on Wheaton Drama stage.

Only the audience can decide how each performance ends when the production is presented at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, May 20 through June 12, at Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale St., Wheaton.

In this musical-within-a-musical, a second-rate company of players in Victorian England presents its flamboyant rendition of the famous and unfinished Charles Dickens novel.

"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" is the final novel by Dickens, which was unfinished at the time of his death. The ending of the book is unknown. Though the novel is named after Edwin Drood, the plot focuses on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a choirmaster who is in love with his pupil, Rosa Bud, who also happens to be engaged to Drood.

The play is set in 1892 in The Music Hall Royale. One of the production's most talked about features is the unusual finale, where audience members vote upon what happens in the end. As a result, each performance will be highly unpredictable for the audiences and actors alike.

The cast includes Stan Austin, Mike Boyna, Carrington Breckenridge, Jack Corkery, Zachary Gibson, Terri Crain Goodman, Yvette Herczeg, Toria Hollyn, Meg McGarry, Lillian Perez, Christopher Picchione, Heidi Schultz, Pam Turlow, Sophia Vitello, and Matt Whalen.

The director is Susan Able Barry, musical director is Jaime Cohen, choreographer is Harmony Hickey and production manager is Rebecca Poole.

Tickets are $20 to $23. For information, visit wheatondrama.org or call (630) 260-1820.