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"Done to Death" done to perfection by Fort Hill Players
Original farce by former Fort Hill Player sends up mystery genre
White Plains audiences witness great theater in the making
By John F. Bailey
Smarts and Arts: November 4, 2000: Rochambeau School
From "Nick and Nora" to "Mike Hammer," to "James Bond", and from Mickey Spillane to Thomas Clancy, Done to Death skewered the creators and creations of the mystery novel splendidly in its two weekend run at Rochambeau School by the talents of the White Plains Fort Hill Players.
The original play by former Fort Hill Player, Fred Carmicheal, produced and portrayed to perfection by the Fort Hill Players displayed the far horizons of community theater to the delight of an enthralled and attentive audience of about 200 persons on Mayor's Night.
The Fort Hill Players in their 62nd year as the White Plains community theater group, chose an original play to present because of its unique, challenging nature according to Robert Kahn, Treasurer. From this reporter's view, the actors obviously loved the rapid fire script and did it to perfection, and we'd like to see more original works presented instead of the tried and true Broadway favorites.
The evening began with improvisations by several young aspiring thespians, and then the audience was welcomed to a "studio" where 5 mystery authors have been invited to work up a plot as part of a television special. The audience is greeted by the elegant and poised emcee, JC Summers played by Melody Gropper.
We meet the Olives, a mystery writing couple played by Tee Cotter and Frank Tarascio, who drink martinis and reminded this reporter of Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man theme. Then we meet Mildred, played by Jamie Whitfield, author of many romantic mysteries, representing an Agatha Christie type. Next we meet Brad Benedict, played by Johnny T. Liszewski, a writer of spy novels, and Rodney Duckton (David Charney), creator of the hard-boiled private eye, Jack Club.
The first two scenes in Act One, captured the false respect writers have for each other to perfection, while skewering the cliches of the mystery genre through scenes within a scene, similar to the Broadway musical, City of Angels. While Jessica and Whitney Olive drink and drink, each author's style is portrayed in a series of scenes as one author after another picks apart their fellow authors' plots. A silent movie is brilliantly recreated with flickering lighting effects. The hard-boiled detective plot and typical tough guy dialogue is sent up, with typical heroines. The spy's penchant for gadgets neatly skewered. Not a cliche is left unscathed. Any fan of mystery will easily recognize how the same plot devices turn up again and again.
Then we are flown off to a Caribbean Island, and suddenly the emcee turns up dead. One by one authors are killed off, suspicions aroused and typical plot twists work their way into the real life search for the murderer, or is it real life?
The playwright works in various cliche characters, too: the mysterious butler, played with sonorous Addams Family overtones by Tom Dunn. There is the attractive but nervous maid, played over the top to perfection by Kat Johnson (in her community theater debut). Ms. Johnson's bit with the dead telephone line brought the biggest laughs of the night when she goes to telephone the police, and the Olives tell her not to bother because the line is obviously dead. When she picks up the phone line and says "It's dead!" in a perfectly horrified voice, the house convulsed in laughter. The best production number of the evening is a full staging of a typical James Bond movie opening sequence, with excellent use of spotlights and choreography.
The second act finds various authors being considered in similar scene-within-a-scene format as the potential murderer stalking their other authors. There is even an evil twin sister identity gimmick worked in to explain who committed all the murders.
At evening's end, all actors come back on stage to show that none of them were actually murdered, and they thank the audience for our participation in the exercise -- only to have a member of the audience collapse in death on the stage.
All the dialogue was delivered in rapid fire with the cast interacting well with timing and in character. Easily stealing the show were Frank Tarascio and Tee Cotter's portrayals of the sophisticated Olives. William Powell and Myrna Loy, Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk have nothing on them. Their elegant martini drinking, Waspy accents, and self-absorption were the acting highlight of the evening. Mr. Tarascio and Ms. Cotter actually seemed married, that's how good their interaction was. Ms. Cotter's tall blonde elegance is reminiscent of the British comedienne, Penelope Keith, and Mr. Tarascio snobbishness recalls Tony Randall and William Powell.
Jamie Whitfield in the role of Mildred captured the essence of the grand mystery diva author type with her sense of drama and her need to command a situation and focus attention on herself. This particular trait of writers to attract attention to themselves is wonderfully satirized in this play and gives a lot of its energy. The trait of writers denigrating other writers' work is also used to hilarious advantage by the playwright.
David Charney as Rodney and Johnny Liszewski as Brad ably complimented the flamboyance of Ms. Cotter, Mr. Tarascio and Ms. Whitfield. Sharon Hamilton in her acting debut with Fort Hill Players made a devastating femme fatale in her scene vignettes, as a secretary, a scheming wife and a villainous female.
The set designed by Anthony Fabrizio was unusually intricate and realistic for community theater with a great number of props, entrances and staging areas.
Lighting by Joan Charischak was used to especially good effect in setting up the scenes-within-a-scene. The silent movie scene was well-executed with flickering lights capturing the flavor of the "silents."
Sound work by A. J. Beckley which featured mystery themes from the past played during the genre send-up scenes in Act One was executed on the money. We heard "The James Bond Theme," "The Perry Mason Theme," "The Alfred Hitchcock Theme," "Mission Impossible," and others that suspended audience belief quite effectively.
The play is by Fred Carmichael, formerly a Fort Hill Player himself, has a lot going for it. It is entertaining and cleverly written. The first two scenes were a little slow in setting up the second Act, and might be combined. The Rodney and Brad characters are not as well written as the Mildred Maxwell and the Olives characters. They play as foils to the other two and do not have as many funny lines. When the Rodney and Brad characters are delivering they do not bring as much satire and laughs to the table. The play is reminiscent of Sleuth, the 1971 Tony Award Winner, though completely different in plot, it has the same element of the unexpected and also features writers. However, you have to realize, I too, am a writer, and it is so easy to criticize another writer's piece.
Tony Frangipane directed in his first effort for the Fort Hill Players. He has to be commended for marshaling his troops well through a complex and busy production. He made sensible use of the stage, paid attention to effective off-stage lighting to heighten the sense of belief in the murders, and kept characters in character while they were listening to others. The play itself hung together well because of the sense of pacing Frangipane was able to maintain throughout. His direction gave the play a Neil Simon sense to it.
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