It’s a dark and stormy night.
Well, not really.
But it could be! Because dark and stormy stuff is happening.
There’s been a murder most foul.
A killer is on the loose.
And a party is going just plain off the rails.
And there’s more. Everyone at the party is a suspect, and the murderer is among them.
But not to worry. It’s all happening with tongue firmly in cheek.
That’s the premise of “It’s Murder in the Wings,” a new production by the Laguna Woods Theatre Guild, set to be staged in April as a dinner theater show. Over coffee and dessert, the audience will have a chance to ferret out whodunnit, with prizes awarded to whoever done that successfully.
“It’s Murder in the Wings” is the story of a publishing company – named Wings – that’s about to go out of business unless the boss signs a contract with a new author. Problem is, said boss is lying dead as a doornail in his office, even as the contract-signing party is underway in the room next door.
The trick is to keep the body under wraps until that contract is signed, which will bring a nice fat loan from the bank, which will save the company. Easy, right?
Not if you have a big cast of quirky characters. There’s Bobbie June, a pretty Southern belle; Eddie, a substitute janitor with a secret; Kitty, a script reader with a sharp tongue; Doris, her younger sister who’s usually a beat behind. Not to mention Lionel Upshaw, a pompous, famous playwright.
To make the matter of keeping the body on the down low even more complicated: Snooping around the party are reporters, those dedicated folks who work tirelessly in their quest for truth and justice.
The two-act play is “fun and crazy,” fast-paced with quick, witty dialogue, and 13 characters who are “all unique in their own way,” says Donna Valenti, the play’s director, who’s also in charge of props, costumes, music, sound, lighting – basically everything, she says, although “it’s a team effort.”
Valenti, who hails from Riverside, came to Laguna Woods after a career training people in public speaking.
But her passion has always been directing. Starting at the ripe young age of 10, she began putting on plays – fairy tales, Robin Hood, Peter Pan and the like – for her siblings in the garage. She continued that pastime with her own kids, then her grandkids.
As a young teen, Valenti saw her first Shakespeare play, “Romeo and Juliet,” and got hooked on the Bard.
“I always read Shakespeare to my kids instead of children’s books,” she recalled.
She earned a BA in theater from Cal State Fullerton and continued to be involved in the field after she graduated.
In Laguna Woods, Valenti is known for directing “Juliet’s Garden,” plus a Christmas show for veterans and a Reader’s Theater production.
“You have to be a psychologist,” she says of directing. “You have to deal with a lot of different kinds of people.
“I’m a nice person,” she adds, “but I’m a tough director.”
Debbie Drennan plays Maddie, the lead character in “It’s Murder in the Wings.” She describes Maddie as a “no-nonsense businesswoman who worked her way up in the publishing company to editor.”
“Her focus is keeping the business going, and, hopefully, successful,” she says. “She also has been dating Donald (a reporter) for a while, and is secretly hoping he will propose soon.”
As the lead, Drennan has the majority of the lines in the play. She says she listens to her parts on her near-daily walks and has been practicing with fellow cast mates and friends.
“I think the show is just so funny and engaging that it really wasn’t too difficult to learn them all,” she says.
Drennan came late to theater, after a career as an assistive technology specialist and raising a family. She moved to Laguna Woods just two years ago and immediately joined the Theatre Guild, where she has acted in two prior productions.
“I never really understood the craft of acting and all that it takes to really make a great show until recently,” she says.
Now, theater has become her “new passion.”
“The people in the Theatre Guild have been fantastic, teaching me and coaching me,” she says.
Seasoned actor Robin LaValley plays Tyrolia in the murder mystery, “a tough broad who worked for the police before getting a job with the publishing company.”
LaValley has performed in theater and musicals at the Welk Resort in Palm Springs and elsewhere around Southern California, at summer stock back East, and at Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, dubbed the world’s largest performance arts festival.
She honed her skills with improvisation, going on to teach the unscripted form of theater in Hollywood.
One of her more memorable gigs, she says, was working as a stand-in for Gary Coleman in the TV sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes.” While the child actors were in school, she and other adults would sit in for them during rehearsals. During the final episode, she even got to play bit parts on the show.
LaValley, who is from Covina, studied theater arts at Cal Poly Pomona. She’s been in the Theatre Guild for three years and performed in “Love Letters,” “Juliet’s Garden” and some Christmas shows.
She likens “It’s Murder in the Wings” to “Noises Off,” a 1982 British farce about a theater group’s chaotic rehearsals.
“It’s the same craziness,” she says. “There’s quick dialogue and always actors coming and going.”
“It’s Murder in the Wings” will be staged on Monday, April 14, and Tuesday, April 15, in Clubhouse 5. Both shows are sold out.
“We feel we are providing something very special and different,” says Barbara Powell, the play’s producer. “People who love theater and want a nice dining experience, without having to drive to and pay parking, will be willing to pay an additional $5 for it.
“We have a lot of dances in the Village. This provides a different option, but it is not necessarily appealing to everyone.”
For more information about the Laguna Woods Theatre Guild and future shows, visit TheatreGuildLW.com.