LIFESTYLE The Levy County Journal levyjournalonline.com The County Paper, Est. 1923 May 27, 2010 1IB Audience enjoys opening of Players' mystery farce Story and photo by Anna Suggs Assistant Editor The audience never saw it coming, but, then again, the characters all seemed a bit lost too. But not in a bad way. The Suwannee Valley Players opened "Name That Murder" Friday night at the Chief Theatre, and it appeared the actors had as much fun onstage as the audience had watching. To explain the plot makes it sound much more complicated than it seems being performed. The audience is watching a performance of a murder mystery dinner theater and how the actors interact with the "audience" coming to have dinner and solve the mystery. The production opens with a couple on the stage hauling the lifeless body of a man. The couple are having an affair and argue about the woman's husband, the man who is now dead. Then the audience learns the three are just rehearsing for the mystery dinner theatre that will open in 15 minutes. The woman is Jessica, played by Stacey Trenteseaux, who plays the cheating wife, Evelyn. George, played by Anthony Colombo, is the hotel owner, mystery dinner theater director, Jessica's "real- life" husband and in the mystery plays Fabio, the lover. Stan, played by Joe Cappelleti, plays the husband, Brad, in the mystery but is also having an affair with Jessica in "real life." George is a loud, hot-tempered control freak who correctly suspects his wife is cheating on him, although he is not sure with whom. Before the guests/ audience come to watch the show and have dinner, he calls a hitman, Michael, to come take care of the problem. What is "real" and what is the storyline of the mystery theater parallel, which confuses everyone onstage and adds hilarity for the audience. The fact that one of the mystery actors is named Brad and Brad is the name of the character who is having an affair in the mystery leads to confusion as the actors try to keep up the performance as the guests come in. -a. Brad/Justine, played by Elliott Morgan, looks off in the distance in terror as someone comes through the corner door in the new Suwannee Valley Players' comedy that opened Friday. The farce will be showing at the Chief Theatre this weekend as well. Elliott Morgan plays the real Brad, who plays Justine (the name is bisexual but he is not) in the mystery. Brad is a goofy, naYve young man with a Southern accent, but while the guest/audience is around he must act like the sophisticated butler Justine. The audience/mystery-solvers are just as much characters as the characters in the mystery. Paul and Paula Paulerson are played by husband-and-wife pair Andy and Bobbi Kidd. Paul and Paula are die-hard mystery theater fans and inspect every prop and take notes in order to solve the mystery. Throughout the performance Paula gets sillier and sillier as she has a few too many drinks. Michelle is the only other guest, besides the hitman Michael, played by Matt Kidd. Michelle, played by Krystle Wimberly, is a single, lonely, pessimistic woman who falls head-over-heels for Brad/Justine. Friday night's opening of "Name That Murder" had a decent turnout of about 56 people. Colombo, the play's director, said he was pleased with the performance and the audience. Colombo was mostly happy to see his dream of having "Name That Murder" performed. The comedy-farce was written by Troy Allen Shearer, along with the help of Colombo. The two began writing about six years ago while they were students together. "He [Shearer] wrote the show and did all the work; I made it funny," Colombo said. When the script was finished, a British publishing company picked it up, but Colombo said they couldn't find anyone to produce the play. Then he met someone from the Suwannee Valley Players about a year ago and they agreed to include "Name That Murder" in the 2010 lineup. The Players' production is only the second time the comedy has been performed in the United States. "Overall, the whole process has been fun," he said. "I've wanted to do the show for a long time." Janet Cribb, of Chiefland, came to watch the opening show Friday night. "I enjoyed it immensely," she said. The way the economy is going now, a good comedy is always welcome, she said. Her favorite part of the play was Brad/ TOP PRICES FOR * Junk Autos * Appliances * Radiators 2-7 o, * Copper ,-,,,,:,, 7,,-732- 3 , * Brass 4 316 2870 NE 200th Ave. Williston, FL 352-528-3578 Justine because he was so entertaining. It was Morgan's first time on the stage at the Chief Theatre, although he grew up performing in theater and in television. In less than two months, he and his wife will be moving to Los Angeles so he can try to make a career of acting. He said the Suwannee Valley Players is a great group of people who really care about each other and their community. "I like how they've taken the theater and done as much as they could with it. They put the emphasis on community theater," he said. Working on "Name That Murder" was a lot of fun, he said. "It was hilarious and fast-paced, high energy," he said. "I thought the audience would be pretty entertained because it was quick," he said. "You won't fall asleep, I can promise you that," Cribb said. But what the Players really need is for the opening weekend audience to spread the word about the show because they are only about $3,500 into their goal of $18,000 for their Beautification Project to renovate the exterior of the Chief Theatre, said Players Secretary and "Name That Murder" Producer Linda Hagan. After the show, Cribb said she was going to do just that: Go home and tell all her friends to come to the second weekend performance. "Name That Murder" will be performed Friday and Saturday night at 8 p.m. and Monday at 2:30 p.m. r..i "A 9N TIC ?I j ' -,',' ni-, , I, 1t',i- * Y'n '.![i, i ertl. l ianii train 'iield a 11 lil luslalilltion * IBells Ife li It#Of! W nl-ron ha. . n,,1.1 i, nif,, , ' *'m PlwMlii * lwIH gal C (:lems Jlll i I i , iSit lali :lr.l - tale /Jt/ ll - VISA . vitale New Name 8RANFOR) 103 US 27 S.W. TEL: (386)935-3090 ,',A l iI I'ION 630 NO. I :i'. ST TE L : - . : ... . ^ ' Same Dependable Care 1830 N. '.1i . i. TEL: ..'-, I -,l100 S iiii LAND 2010 NO. 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