The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a musical written by Rupert Holmes based on the unfinished Charles Dickens novel of the same name.

After being revised, it transferred to Broadway and ran until May 1987, sometimes billed simply as Drood, followed by two national tours and a London West End production.

Holmes drew on these experiences when impresario Joseph Papp, the creator and head of the New York Shakespeare Festival, approached him to write a new musical.

After a nightclub appearance where he performed "story songs" and shared humorous anecdotes, Holmes received a note from Gail Merrifield, director of play development at the New York Shakespeare Festival and Joseph Papp's wife.

[5] Holmes conceived the show’s central premises by drawing on his recollections of Dickens' novel and pantomime as a youth, and his later experiences with Victorian-style music hall performances.

From pantomime, he retained the concept of the "Lead Boy,” always portrayed by a young female in male drag, which permitted him to write a love song sung by two sopranos.

From music hall traditions, he created the lead character of "The Chairman,” a sort of Master of Ceremonies instigating stage action.

While Holmes believed no Broadway creator had done this before,[6] and the feat was frequently mentioned in reviews and press about the show, it was more common in the early days of musical theatre.

At a break in the show, the audience votes on who killed Drood, the identity of the mysterious Dick Datchery, and which two characters will become romantically involved, creating a happy ending.

More and more members of the company add to the growing noise until the music begins, and the Chairman of the proceedings bursts forth with the show's opening number, "There You Are".

They then introduce John Jasper, the 'Jekyll and Hyde' choirmaster who greets his young nephew Edwin Drood in the song "Two Kinsmen", where they express their strong friendship.

Drood is engaged to the fair Miss Rosa Bud, who is Jasper's music pupil and the object of his mad obsession.

She is horrified and angry, and they sing "The Name Of Love And Moonfall", ending with Jasper's pursuing Rosa off-stage as the act concludes.

As the song climbs to a climax, the actors trail off, and the Chairman announces to the audience that it was at this place that Charles Dickens laid down his pen forever.

Once the votes have been tabulated, the cast comes out and sings "Don't Quit While You're Ahead" to welcome the audience back into the story and to remind them that the mystery has not been solved.

Just then, there comes a noise from the crypt, and a very much alive Edwin Drood appears, ready to tell all that happened on the night of his disappearance ("The Writing On The Wall").

The actress portraying Miss Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood also performs the role of Dick Datchery up until the Voting portion of the evening.

However, this is merely a "bit" within the context of The Music Hall Royale – Miss Nutting only portrays Datchery due to a contractual obligation for her to appear in both acts of the play.

The numbers "A Man Could Go Quite Mad," "Ceylon," "Settling Up the Score," and the quartet reprise of "Moonfall" are not standard but are provided as "additional material" that theaters can choose to perform at their options.

This recording was released by Polydor with the additional subtitle, The Solve-It-Yourself Broadway Musical (Polydor 827969) and the CD included versions of "Out on a Limerick" by all five possible Datcherys (Rosa, Crisparkle, Bazzard, Neville, and Helena) and all six possible Murderer's Confessions (Puffer, Rosa, Bazzard, Crisparkle, Neville, and Helena), as well as an "instructional track" entitled "A Word From Your Chairman...." The LP and cassette included only the opening-night Confession and murderer, and omitted the "lovers."

Two songs that were omitted from Drood before it reached Broadway, "An English Music Hall" and "Evensong," (a duet between Rosa and Crisparkle) were later recorded for the 1994 album, Lost In Boston.

[15] Differences between this recording and the original recording include confessions from all eight possible murderers, two versions of "Out on a Limerick" (Bazzard and Helena), the lovers' reprise of "Perfect Strangers" (featuring a combination of Princess Puffer & Deputy, Helena & Neville, and Rosa & Durdles), a revised "Ceylon" (which now incorporates "A British Subject"), a previously cut song ("An English Music Hall") as the new opening for Act II, and the "Opium Den Ballet".

[17] After Rupert Holmes wrote an initial draft that lasted three-and-a-half hours and performed it, solo, for Joseph Papp, Gail Merrifield, and Wilford Leach, (the New York Shakespeare Festival's artistic director), Papp offered to produce the show as part of the Festival (also known as "Shakespeare in the Park") and told Holmes that it would be immediately transferred to Broadway if it was deemed a success.

[4] The original production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood premiered in New York City's Central Park at the Delacorte Theatre on August 21, 1985, after only three weeks of rehearsals.

Following a great deal of editing (the Delacorte version contained 32 original songs and was nearly three hours long)[18] The Mystery of Edwin Drood opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on December 2, 1985.

The opening night cast of the Broadway production starred George Rose, Cleo Laine, John Herrera, Howard McGillin, Patti Cohenour, and Jana Schneider, who were all nominated for 1986 Tony Awards for their performances, as well as Betty Buckley in the title role.

Kuhn (in her Broadway debut) served as the understudy to both Buckley and Cohenour, and then left in 1986 for her featured roles in Rags and, later, Les Mis.

[19] In 1988, several months after closing on Broadway, a slightly revised version of Drood, directed by Rob Marshall (with his sister Kathleen as his assistant), began its first North American tour at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, DC, with Rose, Schneider, and O'Hara reprising their leads, and Jean Stapleton playing Laine's role.

The cast was headed by Wendi Peters as Princess Puffer, with Natalie Day as Edwin Drood, Daniel Robinson as John Jasper, and Victoria Farley as Rosa Budd.

[23] The Roundabout Theatre Company presented a Broadway revival at Studio 54, which opened in November 2012 and ran for 136 performances through March 10, 2013.