PRESCOTT – “Members of the newly renovated Meadowbrook Health Resort are dropping like flies, including famed chef Edith Chiles! On the eve of the grand re-opening, this is not the …
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PRESCOTT – “Members of the newly renovated Meadowbrook Health Resort are dropping like flies, including famed chef Edith Chiles! On the eve of the grand re-opening, this is not the best advertisement! It's up to John Stone, the manager, to find the cause and the murderer.”
This is the synopsis for Great River Road Theatre’s latest murder mystery, “Death by Chocolate,” set to hit the stage Jan. 31 through Feb. 2 and Feb. 7-9 at The Old Ptacek’s Event Center in Prescott.
“Delightfully sarcastic and cynical, Stone finds himself teaming up with Ed Parlor, mystery writer and amateur sleuth, in a wacky race against time. The clues point to a sinister box of chocolates, and the suspects include all the outlandish characters working for the resort. Could it be Lady Riverdale, owner of the resort, and a woman with dark secrets? Or Ralph Deadwood, gym instructor and all-around cad? Dick Simmering, the aerobics instructor? Anne, the panic stricken nurse? Or could it be ‘Sweet Pea’ Meadowbrook, overweight and grieving daughter of the recently deceased founder of the resort?” the synopsis reads.
Longtime director and GRRT founder Judy Johnson said she always wondered what putting on this show would be like. She and the GRTT board started reading through plays in July and this one stood out.
“I just thought it was kind of interesting,” Johnson said. “The part that I didn’t like about it is that I didn’t think it was very funny, but we took the play and it is very funny now.”
During a recent practice, assistant director Marie Anne Haudegand-Deiss was laughing so hard she was crying, Johnson said.
“You just start laughing and it brings you to tears,” she added. “We’re pulling out all the stops and we’re all going over the top with our characters. There are 12 very interesting individual cast members and they’re just doing a fantastic job with their parts.”
Haudegand Deiss, who serves as treasurer on the GRRT board, is working behind-the-scenes this year after a recent health scare: A massive heart attack this fall almost ended her life. She is ready to focus on GRRT and the group she considers a family.
“I’m back at practice and everything is back to normal, kind of,” Haudegand Deiss said. “Judy has been there the whole time and I’m behind the scenes helping with several new things. It’s been great because we’re in with the times and doing things like we’ve never used to.”
For example, their ticket sales have gone digital and followers on Facebook may have noticed more fun social media posts about the upcoming show.
This Saturday (Jan. 25), members of the cast will be in costume at Ptacek’s in Prescott interacting with the public and promoting the show. They will be on hand to help people buy tickets and give them a sneak peek at the characters’ personalities.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Haudegand Deiss said. “Another hey, here we are.”
Haudegand Deiss was supposed to be in the show, but Johnson stepped into her role of Edith Chiles.
“She wanted me to heal and get better after my massive heart attack. We are interchangeable. We always support each other. I am the Canadian version of Judy Johnson,” Haudegand Deiss laughed.
When Haudegand Deiss came to the United States from Canada, she met Johnson through friends of her husband, for which she is forever grateful. The GRRT has become a huge part of her life.
“It’s sure fun to see the beginning part of that actor come to us so raw and so new, a young 15-year-old girl who hadn’t done much and now she has found her voice and grown by leaps and bounds,” Haudegand Deiss said. “To see these actors take that role and make it themselves and give it their little quirkiness.”
GRRT veteran actor Scott Halverson, a retired Prescott educator, plays mystery writer Ed Parlor.
“He’s visiting the Meadowbrook Health Resort as a way to get together ideas as he puts together his next murder mystery,” Halverson said of Parlor. “He finds himself immersed in it all. He seems to be totally engrossed in the play aspects. He’s missing the point that these are murders and this is all food for his writing. He’s totally engrossed in his writing. He’s not always well-received by the people at the health resort because he loses sight of what is important.”
Halverson has enjoyed working with the larger than usual cast, which brings challenges of coordinating practices, planning and blocking scenes onstage.
“In terms of the dynamics and planning, I find that a fun challenge to rise to the occasion and get it done,” Halverson said.
He encourages people to come out for a nice evening of entertainment filled with subtle humor.
“How can you go wrong with something like that? A wonderful night of getting out and about in the middle of these brutally cold winters,” Halverson said. “It’s not a dark mystery by any stretch of the imagination.”
Theatre is a way to draw the community together, Halverson said.
Veteran GRRT actor Krista Christiansen will be acting alongside her fiancé, Alex Schlafge, in his first production.
“My character, Dyslexia is a secretary who takes her position seriously. She’s he’s a little burnt out at the same time,” Christiansen said.
Christiansen has been performing with GRRT for 21 years. The group has become her family over the years.
“It’s one of those things that it’s fun over the winter, the laughter, the memories and definitely the audience as well,” Christiansenn said. “We have regulars that we have a fun time seeing year after year.”
Schlafge joked that he held out as long as he could, but Johnson (who is known to be charmingly persuasive), convinced him to join the cast this year.
“I helped build the stage the last couple of years. This year Judy found a role that I think I can handle, that’s small enough. I’m a bit nervous. They finally got me this year,” he laughed.
He plays an effeminate Richard Simmons-type aerobics instructor who is energetic and flamboyant. He’s looking forward to showing his skills for the first time.
“I might do others. I think we’ll do just fine. Judy’s hard to say no to,” he said.
Johnson encourages everyone to attend “Death by Chocolate” for a fun evening out.
“If they want to have a nice night out, they get to have dinner, sit back and relax and forget your troubles for one night. It’s just a good time out. If you like to laugh, you’ll like this play. I think it’s going to be not only funny, but it’s got a great plot. It’s like ‘Murder She Wrote,’ but funny,” Johnson said.
“Especially with these cold evenings, it’s such a fun way to break up the monotony of this cold weather,” Haudegand Deiss added. “We have such a great support system. I can’t say enough about the people who come to our plays each year. I can’t say enough of the Prescott, Ellsworth and River Falls area for supporting the arts.
“This year, I really am looking at it from a different perspective. My eyes are almost young again. I sure love Judy and she sure is amazing for keeping it alive this long.”
Tickets are $40 and include a dinner buffet (catered by Ptacek’s) or a pasta luncheon for the matinees. Friday and Saturday dinners begin at 6 p.m., followed by the performance; Sunday matinees serve lunch at noon. To buy tickets, go to https://our.show/grrtdeathbychocolate and click on “Buy Tickets.”
Mr. Henry Meadowbrook: secret
Lady Riverdale: Becky Denn
Dyslexia: Krista Christiansen
Manager of the resort/John Stone: Mark Andrle
Mystery writer/Ed Parlor: Scott Halverson
Ralph Deadwood/gym manager: Ken McNiff
Margaret Daniels/magazine writer: Allison Thomley
Sweet Pea Meadowbrook: McKenzie Fisher
Dick Simmering: Alex Schlafge
Alfred Mellox: Neal Jensen
Edith Chiles: Judy Johnson