Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Real Inspector Hound

THEATER 27
-summer 1990
1990 brought the end of my five-summer run with the Pennington Players. I can't remember exactly why, but i'd wager it had something to do with Judi not directing, and a lame musical as the product. Ken came to me with a Tom Stoppard comedy. Tom is one of my absolute favorites. HOUND is about two critics watching an Agatha Christie-style whodunit, who end up onstage in the action, and well, die. A bizarre play that keeps the audience guessing. I played Moon, the critic who lives longest. Mark Turner, (last summer's Murray) played the other, a more heralded and pompous man. We trotted out English accents, and Mark's clipped upper class was great. I was also the nasally offstage radio announcer. Heidi was back as a frumpy maid, Ben was back as a Lord Muldoon, and Brian was back as the dim inspector. Chris Passantino, a recent Youth Club graduate and Mark's girlfriend, played Lady Muldoon. Kelly Oswald played Felicity, Steve Secor played Simon, and Philip White was a delight as the corpse. We also did a companion piece, a ten-minute play called APPROACHING LAVENDAR. It had a three-woman cast, and Ken told me his strength was directing actors who didn't have to be told how to act, so would i coach the girls? They were Chris and Kelly and Jenn Mazuka. I worked with them, and felt like i really had something to offer. HOUND was brilliant fun, onstage and off. Working with Mark was pure delight, and i got to experience my first onstage death (bullet to the heart).

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