Rupert Holmes’ Vanishing Act

Tony Award-winning composer and playwright Rupert Holmes won’t spill the beans about the plot of his newest theatrical thriller, “Solitary Confinement,” starring Stacy Keach at the Pasadena Playhouse.

“What I can give away is that anyone who is expecting me to be in this can rest assured that I make no appearance,” Holmes says. “But during intermission of this play, people all look at me smugly. They say, ‘Any chance we will be seeing any more of you?’ ”

Playhouse audiences have come to expect the unexpected from Holmes because of his last thriller, “Accomplice,” in which he made a surprise cameo as himself in the last act. Though Holmes thought it was a clever idea to write himself into that play, he overlooked one thing.

“I have a wife and two small children,” Holmes says. “ ‘Accomplice’ was meant to be originally a four-week run here in Pasadena. It became an immense success and they extended the run and extended the run. I had forgotten when I wrote the author into the play that if the run was extended I was extended too.”

About two months into the run, Holmes was pining for his New York home and family. So one of the show’s understudies took over the role of “Rupert Holmes.”

“I came back a little early, so I actually got to watch me performing,” he says. “It was really amazing. I got to see what all my habits are, my mannerisms and stuff. He didn’t look anything like me, but he created me from the ground up.”