First
Mystery Dinner Theatre was held last weekend at the High Country Inn. Pictured
left to right are Dave Tucker, Amanda Tucker, Jo Moore, Diane Hairston and Ellen
Tomlinson.
First mystery dinner theater a smashing success
A sell-out crowd for all
three evenings of the CMPL Friends’ first annual mystery dinner theater enjoyed
fine entertainment last weekend, with benevolent weather, a lively social hour
outside, a fine dinner inside the High Country Inn, and a rollicking, funny play
entitled, “I’m Getting Murdered in the Morning.”
The comedy spoof of a wedding
reception had the audience chuckling as local actors presented a two-act play
which involved a mystery guest being murdered on the dance floor and being
dragged out so the bride and her father can have the first dance. Adding to the
fun was the slightly tipsy mother of the bride, played by Carla Laws, and the
groom’s mother adding her own adlibs about the local area, enacted by Pat
Larson. The play abounded in “Malapropisms,” and kept the audience on their
toes.
Everyone did a fantastic job,
including Amanda and Dave Tucker as the bride and groom, Phil Shriver and
Cherish Hinton as the best man and maid of honor, Will Weise as father of the
bride, Bobbi Samuels as the snoopy society reporter, Teri Ploharz-Bolling as the
detective in charge of “damage control,” Jeff Jones as the DJ and emcee, and Ted
Leach as the victim.
During the cake-cutting
ceremony, the audience was served real wedding cake and coffee and some of the
“wedding party” helped serve and visited around the room.
Diane Hairston enjoyed her
“Orofino Debut” as play director of “I’m Getting Murdered in the Morning,”
bringing with her a lot of experience in Civic Theater and many other venues,
and as a graduate of Eastern Washington University in Theater Arts. She kept the
cast in line and focused, and the resulting performances demonstrated her skill
as a director.
Diane was assisted by Cathy
Jenni, “stage manager and go-fer.” The three-day event more than realized its
$3,000 fund-raising goal, and co-chairs Jo Moore and Cathy Jenni are already
thinking about next year’s production! They will be recruiting more local
residents who are interested in joining the CMPL Friends to help support the
library in its many programs as well as keeping the physical facility in good
shape.
The group will also be
seeking those who would be interested in performing alongside this “charter”
group of players in the future. There will be a second annual