YORK company Flying Ducks Youth Theatre will present the British youth theatre premiere of Kander and Ebb’s whodunit Curtains, The Musical! from Thursday to Saturday at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.

From the creators of Cabaret and Chicago, this Broadway show is set in 1959 in a Boston, Massachusetts theatre, where the new western musical Robbin’ Hood is being staged.

When the wholly untalented leading lady, Jessica Cranshaw, collapses after the final curtain of the opening night, Lieutenant Frank Cioffi, of the Boston Police Department, is enlisted to solve the murder.

Despite the unfortunate events, it is decided the show must go on, but after less than complimentary reviews from the Boston Globe and a change of cast, each underpaid and overworked member may be considered a suspect.

How did flamboyant director Christopher Belling convince them to perform? Could the murderer be ruthless co-producer Carmen Berstein, desperate to remove the leading lady to save the show?

Or could it be her philandering husband, Sidney Bernstein, eager to give his step-daughter Bambi a boost into the limelight?

Does too-good-to-be-true Niki Harris, Jessica’s understudy, want to leap into the leading role?

Is her blossoming romance with Lt Cioffi a way to lead him off the trail?

Or maybe one of the divorced songwriting team of Aaron Fox and Georgia Hendricks could be responsible, each having a reason for Georgia to be cast as the lead?

Lt Cioffi, a frustrated actor himself, detains all concerned in order to carry out his investigations, but after another murder is discovered, he faces a race against time to solve the case and ensure a cast is still in place to reopen the show.

“Curtains is an intriguing mix of music, comedy, mystery and romance staged as a show-within-a-show,” says director Steve Padfield. “As this Broadway musical was written by Kander and Ebb, the songs are a joy to the ears and heart.”

Steve is joined in the production team by producer Stephen Outhwaite, musical director Clark Howard, assistant director Jill Sissons and choreographer Sophie Roberts.

Principal roles go to Matthew English as Lt Cioffi; Hannah Brown as Jessica Cranshaw; Jeremy Brown, Christopher Belling; Georgia Padfield, Carmen Bernstein; Thomas Warren, Sidney Bernstein; Katherine Warren, Niki Harris; Callum Blanchard, Aaron Fox; and Eleanor Leaper, Georgia Hendricks.

Tickets for the 7.30pm evening shows and 2.30pm Saturday matinee cost £7 or £8, available from Michael Whyte on 01904 768963 or York Theatre Royal, 01904 623568, or online at flyingducksyouththeatre.com

Flying Ducks Youth Theatre will do a collection at each show in aid of Martin House Children's Hospice, Boston Spa.