PLATTEVILLE — The Center for the Arts on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus was set for an evening of mystery, entertainment and fine dining on June 12. It was the Heartland Festival’s opening night of “And The Killer Is …,” a murder-mystery dinner show. Audience members were welcomed to an awards show setting as they entered a rehearsal room turned dinner theater in the CFA.
Tables were set up throughout the room for audience members to sit at for the four-course meal served during the show. The menu consisted of award-winning cream of carrot soup, V.I.P. mesclun green salad with honey dijon vinaigrette, two-bit chicken oscar (chicken breast with crab meat), rice pilaf, killer focaccia bread and a red-carpet gallery of desserts that included strawberry devonshire tart, chocolate peanut butter bon-bons and carrot cake cupcakes. Actors from “And The Killer Is …” came out to greet audience members before the show, getting everyone in the mood before the lights dimmed. Actors also interacted with audience members throughout the performance, from requesting them to write clues on the “clue board” to asking them how their dinner tasted.
The show begins with Donnie Nowell, an actor desperate to get discovered. He and fellow actor Britanni, come up with a scheme to create an awards show and air it on a local cable access station. They call their awards show the Bit-players and Extras Academy Targets Movie Excellence (B.E.A.T.M.E.) awards, for all the often overlooked actors who stand in the backgrounds of the movies. Nowell decides that every big star became famous after winning a prestigious award and the only way to become discovered is for him to win a B.E.A.T.M.E. award.
Nowell and Britanni call upon Nowell’s cousin, the not-entirely-unknown soap opera actor, Jonathan Wayne Barrington, to host the show. When characters Justin Reeves, Margaret Whuha and Bob Schmegley are introduced, the camera starts rolling and the awards show begins.
The deal is sweetened for the actors of the B.E.A.T.M.E. awards when it is discovered that one of the actors will get an offer to play in an upcoming Stephen Spielberg film. The awards show continues until one of the actors dropped dead. With the help of the audience members and a detective, the actors put clues together to figure out who the killer was, creating a humorous and interactive experience for all involved.
John Hassig, Executive Director of the Heartland was pleased with the opening night of the Heartland Festival and described “And The Killer Is …” as a very funny show.
Kady Beekman, who acts in “The Producers” ensemble, attended the show to support her fellow Heartland actors. “I absolutely loved it,” said Beekman. “It was hilarious, every character was well developed and so entertaining.”
Pat Loeffelholz, Carol Weber and Mary Jean Stephens, friends from Cuba City, have attended performances at UWP for many years. They like the quality of Heartland Festival shows, and “And The Killer Is …” was no exception. “It was excellent acting, the food was great and the actors kept the audience involved and in suspense. Everyone around us really seemed to enjoy it too,” said Stephens.
Not just the audience members, but the actors equally enjoyed the performance, “The audience was amazing,” said Ben Barlow, who played Nowell. “Their enthusiasm filled the room; they brought so much energy that it was easy and fun to perform.”
It is UWP professor of performing and visual arts Ann Dillon Farrelly’s second year directing for the Heartland Festival. She is the director for both “And The Killer Is …” and “Godspell Jr.” Farrelly was very happy with how the first performance went. “This was the first time we had an actual audience to perform for and we didn’t know what to expect,” Farrelly said. “The audience made the show work, they were very responsive and made our first performance a success.”
There will be more opportunities this summer to figure out who the killer is. Shows will be held June 20, 27; July 3, 14, 18, 24, 26, 30 and Aug. 1, 6 and 8. All performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the CFA.
Ticket prices include dinner and are $27 for adults and $17 for UWP students with a valid ID and individuals under the age of 18. Tickets are available through the University Box Office at (608) 342-1298 or http://www.uwplatt.edu/arts/cfa/information/office.html.
###
Heartland Festival News 