I Haven't A Clue
This is a story that I wrote specifically for the Halloween season even though it has nothing to do with Halloween. It is, however, a murder mystery and that kind of goes with my favorite macabre holiday. We had the idea that we would host a small gathering of audience members in a large house instead of at the theatre. Tausca and I searched for a house that was big enough to fit twenty people at a time. We found one that overlooked Grand Lake. It was beautiful even if it was a bit of a drive to get there. Since we didn't know exactly what the house was going to look like when I started writing, I decided to include rooms that every house has like a kitchen, living room, and bedroom. I threw in an office or study and hoped that when we found the right house, it would have a room that we could use. Luckily, our find had an office right off the living area and it was perfect. When I began writing, I realized that I had never written anything like a mystery. Most of my writing is comedy, which there is in this play as well. So I talked to one of my best friends who is a huge Stephen King fan. I asked Ashley Davidson if she would look over the script and make story adjustments and writing suggestions. It's important for you to know that Ashley helped me write this play because something happened. Ironically, she didn't get credit for it. Here's the irony. The play is about a man who is from a small town and hits it big as a writer in Hollywood. He comes back to the small town to make amends with his writing partner because he had stolen the scripts that they had both worked on and made loads of money for himself selling them to TV executives in California. Life imitates art. When we got the program for the show and Ashley was left off of the writing credits for the play, I was mortified. She played it off as being okay, but I still feel bad that it happened and it's been years since we performed it. In the play, a man is killed and three women are the suspects. His girlfriend, his writing partner, and his benefactor were all investigated by an inept local detective. The dead man's ghost tries to point the detective in the right direction to solve his murder. The audience isn't left out either. The play is full of interaction with the crowd. They also got to vote at the end to see who they thought the killer was. Then, in the final scene, we divulged who did the deed and if the audience got it right. Some audience members guessed it correctly, but most didn't. I was kind of proud of that. So, the play was finished being written by Ashley and me and I needed to cast it. I was going to play Robert Finley, the dead man/ghost. I got my dear friend Pam Leptich to play my benefactor and lover Dorothy Mitchell, my lovely wife Flora played my girlfriend Marcia Harrison, Ashley Davidson played my writing partner Emma Fields, and the inept detective was played by my good friend Cyrus Crane. The hosts of the show were the butler and French maid played wonderfully by Joe and Tausca Schillaci. Here are a couple of photos. I'm still trying to find more.
After the shows Cyrus, Pam, Flora, Me and Ashley
|
The fun was getting out of hand.
|
Tausca & Joe