Bull In A China Shop
The opening show of Theatre Works' 27th season is C.B. Gilford's
"Bull in a China Shop". When six sweet but balmy old ladies
discover that a handsome bachelor lives across the street, they are
delighted. When they learn that he is none other than Detective Dennis
O'Finn, of Homicide, they are faced with the problem of how to attract his
attention. The answer is simplicity itself: a nice genteel homicide with a
cup of tea as the murder weapon. When a brash young woman reporter begins
to suspect the truth, she becomes the next target. O'Finn is terribly
embarrassed when at last he discovers that he himself is the motive for
these madcap goings-on, and, in desperation, manages to solve the case.
But the dear old ladies are too fond of him and in the end turn the tables
on him or do they? First a short story in Ellery Queen's
Mystery Magazine, later a success on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and now a
stage veteran of hundreds of performances around the country, "Bull in a
China Shop" continues to enchant audiences everywhere! It is reminiscent
of "Arsenic and Old Lace" except these ladies use tea and
buttermilk instead of Elderberry wine. Paul Adam casts the
best 12 people for these roles.
Paul blocks the show beautifully utilizing every part of the playing
area. He also gives them some clever shtick to do like the old ladies
staring at O'Finn's butt when he looks at the murder victim on
the sofa. The character acting of these women is amazing and they mimic
old ladies voices perfectly. The lovely set is by Mark Anderson
and resembles an old fashioned home with the gorgeous furniture
supplied by Fred and Alice Reinhardt. All of the costumes are by
Sharon Charette especially impressive are the ladies colorful outfits and
hats. Hard working stage manager, Connie Anderson keeps things
running smoothly all night long while her son, Josh Smith handles the
sound. Congratulations to Josh and his beautiful wife, Tina on the birth
of their daughter, Isabella Yvonne on August 29. Ed Benjamin
III plays Detective O'Finn. He is tall, dark and handsome so the
ladies have an easy time swooning over him in this show. His facial
expressions are wonderful and his double takes and astonishment at their
antics is priceless. Ed narrates some of the show which is told in
flashbacks and there is a clever twist at the end. (Kudos to Ed who
learned this huge role with many lines in only 8 days!).
The character acting in this show is topnotch.The scene
stealing old ladies are Mary Concannon, Lynn Nadrowski, Lydia
Mattera, Kathy Irons, Chip Winslow and Connie Plotkin. They
all play old maids in the show and are very funny in their
roles. Not wanting to divulge too much information about each
woman, I'll give a brief description of them. Mary is Miss Amantha
who feels motherly towards O'Finn, Lynn is Miss Birdie who wears a funny
wig, wiggles her butt, swoons at the detective and owns the binoculars
that they use to spy on him and Lydia is Miss Lucy who hasn't
been thrilled by a man since Herbert 40 years ago. she wears a funny
gray wig. Kathy is Miss Hildegarde who owns the boarding house, is a
cheapskate, likes to boss the other women around (she is small in
stature but delivers the goods in this role), Chip is Miss Nettie
who is a ditsy blonde, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and
Connie is Miss Elizabeth who won't share the binoculars with the other
women. Rounding out the cast is Timothy Delisle as Detective
Kramer who helps O'Finn see what is really happening, Brandi Davis as Jane
Rogers the bitchy and nosey reporter who sets her sights on O'Finn, Mark
Anderson, Connie's husband plays the fingerprinting cop, Johnson and
Andrew Mattera, Lydia's son and Bill Beatini are the stretcher
bearers . So for an exciting evening of a comic mystery with many
twists and turns, be sure to catch "Bull in a China Shop".
Bull In A China Shop (Sep 18
- Sep 27, 2009)
Theatre Works, 142 Clinton Street,
Woonsocket, RI
1 (401) 766-1898 or www.twri.org