Sherlock Holmes' archnemesis Moriarty has finally been killed and Holmes is at a loss. He is depressed and convinced that his life had been so wrapped up with Moriarty that he now has no use and is just waiting to die, and is sure he will be forever bound in the chains of eternity with Moriarty. Along comes Dr.
Timothy Cratchit — the adult version of Tiny Tim — who approaches Holmes for help, as he feels certain his benefactor, one Ebenezer Scrooge, has been murdered. Shanahan does a masterful job of intertwining the works of both authors, melding the worlds of Victorian England and presenting a funny, intriguing time in the theater as we watch Holmes emerge from his funk and use his brilliant powers of deduction to solve the case. The play is quite funny, with the second act much tighter and faster paced than the first, but overall it presents us with the best of both worlds.
Many of the classic tropes of both writers are interwoven artfully through the show and will have you smiling as each one comes to the fore. Director Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill does a delightful job guiding a wonderful cast. The actors never take themselves too seriously, nor do they underestimate the fact that the audience is in on the jokes and the banter as it flies across the footlights.
Mancinelli-Cahill is supported by an incredibly strong technical staff, most noticeably costume designer Howard Tsvi Kaplan's beautiful costumes, Michael Dunn's exceptional wigs, Rob Denton's lighting, John Gromad.