Artistic Project: It’s Curtains

Biographical statement
Devin is an Anthropology major minoring in Quantitative Social Analysis and Theater and Performance Studies. His interests in theater lie primarily in writing; he has taken coursework in writing plays, musicals, songs, and screenplays. At UChicago, Devin has regularly written for Theater24 festivals and does MUNUC, ChoMUN, and Team Model UN. While Devin calls St. Louis, Missouri home, next year he will be headed to the University of Cambridge to pursue an MPhil in Development Studies.

Project statement
It’s Curtains originated as a series of songs written in the course “Songwriting for Musical Theater” as the basis for a hypothetical full-length musical. The plot outline for that musical was then cut down to shorten it for the purposes of this BA Project. Old Hitchcock thrillers—in which a man is at the wrong place at the wrong time, is framed for a murder, and goes on a quest to prove his innocence with a woman who grows to love him—were the original inspiration for the plot. However, rather than making both leads innocent, both leads in It’s Curtains are guilty (in different ways). The plot structure and limited cast of characters lend themselves to the musical form while the twist on the formula (hopefully) subverts expectations.

Artistic Project
It’s Curtains

Written by Devin Haas
Directed by Lara Sachdeva
Stage Manager: Ryan Murphy
It’s Curtains is a dry, musical twist on the classic whodunnit filled with suspense, comedy, and romance. Note: For the below New Work Week performance over Zoom, lyrics were (mostly) spoken.

Cast (in order of appearance):
Alessandra Tufiño: TV Broadcaster/Detective Claverie
Ryan Murphy: TV Co-Host
Liz Ombrellaro: Antonio
Alisa Boland: Camille
Laura Mahaniah: Suspect #1
Hannah Wilson-Black: Suspect #2