Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
RUMFORD — The Rumford Association for the Advancement of the Performing Arts (RAAPA) is bringing another of its widely popular Mystery Dinner Theater events to the River Valley Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29, to the Eagles Hall stage. This year, patrons will climb aboard the luxury cruise ship “Grand Jubilation” in the Nancy Bond mystery “The Conundrum on the Crackerjack Cruise.” As the ship sets sail to the Bahamas, a collection of unique characters will make you laugh out loud, while creating suspicion, as each person has a motivation to commit the crime about to unfold. The audience will help determine “Who did it?”
As the play unfolds, you will meet the ship’s crew including Loralee LeVeque (Debbie Moon), the enthusiastic cruise director, who might have a “hidden agenda;” Sasha (Arita Zitoli), Loralee’s assistant, who feels unappreciated; Nigel (Jason Jolin), a stateroom steward, who carefully avoids drawing any attention to himself; and the ship’s captain, Randall Whitfield (Jim Robertson), who is devoid of personality and has no desire to “meet and greet” his annoying passengers.
You will also meet some colorful guests as they embark on this seven-day cruise, including Evita Wexler (played by Gail Parent), a wealthy widow flaunting very expensive jewelry to everyone she encounters, and her granddaughter, Tiffany Wexler (Sarahmarie Gervais), who constantly dotes on her grandmother hoping for a big inheritance.
Then there are two couples, both claiming to have won the recent Crackerjack Cruise contest by pulling the grand prize out of a crackerjack box — an all-expenses paid cabin in the ship’s premiere VIP Skipper’s Club. Margie Yakes (played by Jen Foster) is a nosey gossip who spends money like water and loves flashy jewelry. She’s dragged her sarcastic husband, Paul (Steve Borstelmann) to join her in collecting her prize, but all Paul cares about is their mounting debt. They are encountered upon arrival by Jack Silverman (E. Gaelan Thomas), an ex-con, who also claims to be the contest winner, and his new wife Jill (Adrienne Graffe), a very intelligent woman with entrepreneurial ideas of her own.
There will be many twists and turns as the cast keeps you laughing (and surprised) when a crime is committed on board the ship. Who did it? Why? As with past productions, the audience will help solve the mystery through interviewing suspects and voting for who they believe is the guilty party.
This adventurous, comical production will be directed by RAAPA veteran Connie Venskus. Shirli Heald-Allen returns as director of the RAPPA chorus, which will play an integral part in the story as the ship’s “floor show,” performing a series of highly entertaining musical numbers. Gail Door will be the accompanist.
Doors open at 5 p.m. for a social hour, with cash bar and hors d’oeuvres. A full, sit-down dinner, featuring bacon-wrapped pork loin, mashed potatoes, carrots and corn, tossed salad and a brownie sundae for dessert, will be served at 6 p.m. A vegetatian entrée is available by request.
Tickets are $30 and include the full dinner, show and gratuities. Reservations can be made by calling Anita Murphy, 369-0205. The deadline for reservations is April 24.
PHOTO CAPTION: The cast of RAAPA’s Mystery Dinner Theater will perform Saturday, April 29. Seated, from left, Sarahmarie Gervais, Gail Parent and Jason Jolin; standing, Debbie Moon, Jim Robertson, Arita Zitoli, Steve Borstelmann, Adrienne Graffe and E. Gaelan Thomas.
