Footlight Players ready to put ‘Clue’ on stage
Triple locks Theater hosted a dress parade on Monday evening May 20 in the theater at Roscoe Village to promote the latest theatrical production “Clue.”
The new play is about seven guests, a butler, and a maid, who are all involved in a series of murders. The guests all meet at Hill House, where you learn that Professor Plum works in Washington, DC, where everyone else lives. Colonel Mustard is a client of Miss Scarlet, who is the ex-employer of Yvette, the maid, who had an affair with the husband of Mrs. White. Blackmailer Mr. Boddy gives each guest a weapon and tells him or her to kill butler Wadsworth to avoid being exposed. Mrs. Peacock’s craziness and Mr. Green’s clumsiness along with a group tangled in a web of murder, lies, and high spirits, will keep you guessing.
Shelly Lillibridge plays Mrs. White who may or may not have killed her five husbands. She is kind of reserved and quiet while bubbling under the surface. Lillibridge has been doing plays at Triple Locks for about 25 years, she has directed 14 children’s productions, and had a lot of singing roles in the musicals. “I love being on stage. It’s my passion,” she said.
Cook and singing telegraph girl, Sophia Dotson has been in theater since she was 3 years old. She has done musicals and comedy productions. Her last performance was “The Play That Goes Wrong.” “Most of the shows I do are Shane’s,” she said. “With having a father as a director, it is very cool to see behind the scenes. I think it has been a good experience. Throughout my life I will still be a part of the theater. It is a very near and dear part of me.”
Ellen Hardesty is Mrs. Peacock in this production. “This is such a fun play to do,” she said. “I haven’t done anything like this since 2019 in ‘Mamma Mia’ and I really wanted to try out for this. It is one of my favorite movies. It has been a blast, so funny. Everyone will really enjoy it.”
Sam Scott’s character is the butler Wadsworth. He is head of the house and kitchen and the one that is going to be blamed for everything that goes wrong. “Wadsworth was originally played by Tim Curry in the film back in 1985,” Scott said. “I am trying to do everything I can to pay homage to him but also make it my own. I have been with Footlight Players for 15 years. My first production was ‘Oliver Twist’ in 2008 playing one of Fagin’s thieves. My most recent production was ‘A Gift to Remember’ in December and the previous summer I was in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’”
Jesse Whinnery plays Mr. Green with multiple different characters throughout the play. “His personality changes, it’s been fun to play that role,” Whinnery said. “He is a klutz, a germaphobe, just a nervous guy all the time. There is a surprise at the end where he kind of changes his personality in a good way.”
Whinnery is also the set man. He built the mansion for the set.
“Shane nor I ever wrote anything down or drew it out,” Whinnery said. “We just kind of pulled it out of our head. We also had a ton of support from all over town show up. The last four weekends it has taken a whole army to put this on.”
Whinnery has been in seven or eight plays. “A lot of them were musicals,” he said. “This is the first time I have had a traditional play where I had a main character. It is a lot of fun.”
Quinn Wherley plays the motorist who is killed by a mysterious person. He has been in previous productions. His last part was in “The Play That Goes Wrong.”
“I have been in a few others,” he said. “My mom does a lot of set work here, so she used to bring me here as a kid. My first show was ‘Camelot.’ I played a woodland fairy, so I have been with Footlight Players for a long time. My dad, Jeff Wherley was also an actor here.”
Chyanne Foster is Miss Scarlet who has an escort service in Washington DC. “She is more interested in the secret part of her business; government secrets, her client’s secrets, she trades secrets for money, that sort of thing.”
This is Foster’s first play. “I love the movie ‘Clue.’ It’s one of my favorites and Miss Scarlet was my favorite character. When I saw that this was their next play, I finally decided why not, I will just go audition and I got the part. I did musicals for three years at River View High School, but it was always in the background, like choir.”
Devin Fortune is Colonial Mustard, a veteran of the Korean War and specifically a colonial with a very important position in the Pentagon.
“He is being black mailed for something very scurrilous,” Fortune said. “He is a bit of a daft fellow, the kind of guy you would tell a joke to, and it would fly a country mile over his head. He is a hoot to play. It is a very fun part with some fun lines. I did two shows at Triple Locks when I was a young kid, then I didn’t do theater until about my junior year in high school and since then, off and on in college. So this is my first time returning to Triple Locks after several years and I am really excited to be back. I’ve been thinking over time that I’ve been coming to many shows and this time I said alright, let’s go for it. Everyone is fun work with. I love the lines, our chemistry is coming together and I think there is going to be a lot of laughs.”
Conrad Kusmich plays the chief of police. “I have four years of acting in high school, mostly musicals, a couple plays and my first play here. I got into it because my friend Ian and I have done plays at Ridgewood High School. The play has an extra laugh when all the people getting arrested have the same names with different endings.”
Ian McCurdy plays the role of a cop. “It’s a really short part. This has been a phenomenal show, good actors, and great people to work with. I’ve done other shows at Triple Locks, the most recent was ‘The Woman in Black.’”
David Wickham plays the unfortunate police officer that shows up at the wrong time. “I was in ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ last year and a lot of the cast members returned this year for this play. A lot of camaraderie goes with the ability to put on a big play on this stage. We have another wonderful additive you normally won’t get in a smaller theater. We have a great construction crew that figure out the physics behind the problems that Shane comes up with. Also, we have very talented decorators and painters. I always like when the curtain goes up and the audience is enthused because of the stage. I have done set decorator since 2012 and some in college. There are a few directors I enjoy working with and Shane is one of them. He brings out the best and challenges you. I think the quality we put out for the audience entertainment value in Coshocton is off the charts.”
Director Shane Pyle is in his 15th production at Footlight Players. “I have a tendency to pick the hardest, most complicated plays in the world to direct and this is no exception,” he said. “This is a beast of a play. It has a lot of moving parts, it has no intermissions, it runs 90 minutes start to finish and it is all very fast paced. The audience can expect a good murder, mystery, comedy based on the 1985 movie ‘Clue’ with Tim Curry, Martin Mull, and Christopher Lloyd. You will have the opportunity throughout the play to try to guess who done it, with what and in what room.”
Pyle wanted to be sure to thank the countless volunteers with the Footlight Players who came and constructed the set, helped with decoration, helped finding the props necessary and the costumes necessary for the characters.
“We couldn’t do what we do without the generous hours donated by our volunteers to this organization,” he said. “I thank them and encourage them to work with us to help us put on very high-quality shows. The Triple Locks Theater is often referred to as the hidden jewel of Roscoe Village and my goal is to get rid of the word hidden. I hope everyone will come out and enjoy the show and continue to see other shows throughout the years.”
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 14-15, 21-22, and 28-29 and Sunday, June 23 at 2:30 p.m. For information, call 740-622-2959 or get your tickets at https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=215682. Adult tickets are $15 and children under 18 are $10.
Category: Arts & Entertainment
