CHARLESTON -- There's a killer loose in Charleston.

But don't call the cops or lock the doors; this killer is confined to the Capitol Center Theatre and, of course -- if you see the show -- the caverns of your mind.

Charleston composer Mark Scarpelli and writer Dan Kehde have teamed up to breathe life, music and murder into the story of "Jack the Ripper."

Starring regional theater veteran Ryan Hardiman, Scarpelli and Kehde's new musical, "Jack the Ripper" premieres at 8 p.m. Thursday at the theater, located at 1234 Summers St. in downtown Charleston.

Tickets are $9.50 and $5.50 for students and seniors.

The show continues at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, at 2 p.m. Sunday, as well as 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 9-11.

With a full cast of more than 30 people, the show whisks the audience back to the Whitechapel District of London, circa 1888 and into the tangled mind of a madman as the world's first notable serial killer begins his reign of terror.

Starring Hardiman as Jack and fellow Marshal University graduate Kevin Pauley as Inspector Abberline, the new musical takes a different approach than most "Jack the Ripper" productions, which have been adapted as whodunits because the murders were never officially solved.

Scarpelli and Kehde's "Jack the Ripper" shows you the man behind the infamous murders from the beginning, and gives the audience a "fly on the wall" insight into his world, as well as the lives of his mother, his victims and those pursuing Jack the Ripper at any cost.

"It's like a lot of the superhero movies that show the person and how they become who they were," Hardiman said. "There's a lot of that element in it. I'm always fascinated at how someone, good or bad, becomes the person they are."

Hardiman said the twisted logic of Jack the Ripper comes out on stage as well in a series of six paintings that he will finish and display on stage.

"Showing the paintings unveils some of the pivotal events in his life and the catalysts that made him become what he is," Hardiman said.

Hardiman, perhaps best known in Huntington for starring as The Beast in Huntington Outdoor Theatre' record-breaking summer production of "Beauty and the Beast," said this new original musical uses a format not unlike "Les Miserables," or "Phantom of the Opera " or "Sweeney Todd," where the music conveys most of what is on stage.

Hardiman, who has worked with Scarpelli and Kehde on other productions, said people will be blown away by the musical they have created.

"I am constantly amazed at what they come out with," Hardiman said. "They can go from something like the "Norman Rockwell American Paradise," to Jack the Ripper and it is very consistent and it sounds great. They don't take the easy way out with the story or the music. They really know how to weave a good story and to have the music fit into it perfectly."

Call 304-342-6522 for information.

Photo by Dan Kehde

Theater veteran Ryan Hardiman (left) stars as Jack the Ripper, and Kevin Pauley as Inspector Abberline in Dan Kehde's new musical, "Jack the Ripper," premiering at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Capitol Center Theatre, located at 1234 Summers St., in downtown Charleston.

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