“This Murder Was Staged”
by Patrick Greene and Jason Pizzarello
This Murder Was Staged is produced by special arrangement with Stage Partners. (www.yourstagepartners.com)
“It’s opening night of a brand-new mystery play, but just as the killer is about to be revealed, the body of the play’s director falls onstage instead. In that moment, the theater becomes an active crime scene, and everyone from cast to crew to even the audience becomes a suspect. But how is the intrepid detective supposed to find the killer when everyone and their mother (literally) has a motive to want the demanding director gone? This Murder Was Staged is a fast-paced, backstabbing, backstage comedy…”
Carrie Christensen – Carrie was born and raised in Mt. Pleasant. She attended NSHS where she played Wallflower #2 in the school play Grease with perfection. She has played Alice in Miracle at the Monty and Maudie in Daddy’s Girl. She has enjoyed being Keira in This Murder Was Staged. When she is not performing, she teaches kindergarten and enjoys the company of five-year-olds because they make her laugh every day. She loves spending time with her granddaughter, grandson, and three daughters and appreciates their love and support. Thank you everyone for coming tonight.
ShayLynne Bronson – Shay has loved acting and theater for years. This will be her second time working with North Bend Entertainers. She loves listening to music, watching and analyzing her favorite TV shows, and being with her best friend. She’s grateful for the opportunity to be in this fun production!
Tavian Smith – Tavian is pretty excited to be in this play and hopes to leave his “Mark” on the audience with his stunning performance. He has loved doing theatre his whole life and has been involved in a multitude of North Bend productions as well as being very involved in the North Sanpete Drama department, including musicals such as Amelie, The Music Man, and most recently, Hadestown. Not to mention his involvement in region and state drama competitions. When he’s not performing on the stage he loves to help out in any other ways he can, such as set building and the like, and has even dabbled in writing, with his most successful work being a humorous monologue about potatoes that, with the help of a stellar performance from Nolun Nielsen, took second place at State! When he is not doing anything drama related (which is not often) he is mostly working, eating, or sleeping. But if he had time to do other things he would enjoy watching and playing sports, making art, and spending time with friends, family, and pets!
Jeff Heftel – Jeff is very excited to be a part of another North Bend Entertainers production. He stepped away from acting for a couple of years but is happy to be back in the theater doing what he loves. His most recent work includes our own production of Scrooge MacBeth, and the Chef in Murder for Breakfast, a comedy murder mystery aboard the Heber Valley Railroad’s Heber Creeper. He has been privileged to be part of the Timpanogos Valley Theatre with productions including Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma, and other well-known musicals including Singin’ in the Rain, and South Pacific. His passion for both the stage and in the shadows with set design and technical support calls him back to perform in this Dinner Theater production of This Murder Was Staged.
Mariah Ashworth McWaters – Mariah was in several productions in high school including The Wizard of Oz, Little Shop of Horrors, Newsies, and The Diary of Anne Frank. She also was featured in State competitions for her Solo Pantomimes, where she won superior awards. Mariah took a break from the stage to focus on school, getting married, and starting a family. She’s currently going to school to become a Pediatric Nurse, has a wonderful husband and baby boy, and 2 beautiful dogs. She loves board games, books, puzzles, and learning. She’s excited to get back into acting, as it was one of her great joys during her high school career. Shout out to Alex Barlow.
Jessica Dowding – Jessica is a lifelong lover of theater who is thrilled to be on stage after many years away. She is enjoying the chance to work with the North Bend Entertainers for the second time and grateful for the instant camaraderie, creative inspiration, and many laughs. Jessica would like to thank her parents and siblings for supporting her, as well as her dogs for (mostly) tolerating her evening absences for rehearsals. She loves our community and hopes you enjoy the show as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together!
Tanya Carney – Tanya is thrilled to step into the role of Detective Kendra Drake in This Murder Was Staged—and promises she’ll solve the case before closing night. Recent credits include Cash on Delivery, A Christmas Card, Just Desserts, and Blithe Spirit. She is so grateful to be part of North Bend Entertainers and loves sharing the magic of live theatre with this wonderful community. After her faith and her family, performing with this incredible group is her true passion. Tanya sends heartfelt thanks to her amazing family and friends for their constant encouragement, love, and support—they’re the real masterminds behind her success.
Jason Quinn – Jason’s first and greatest joy is, of course, working on stage with children and animals. But, when they are not available, this cast is a darn close second, and he has enjoyed every minute of this production with them. Along with the lofty and highly esteemed pursuit of excellence-in-community theater, he also enjoys drawing stuff, kissing his wife, Kay, and manipulating his children through guilt. Sometimes, if you know where to find him, you might spy him standing heroically, like a sea captain, you know, with one foot up on a rock or something, gazing into the distance thinking deep thoughts. Or, thinking about kissing his wife, Kay.
Shayne Thompson – Shayne has tried to fight the urge to get back on stage, but he is no match for that! We are grateful to have the pleasure of watching him in yet another show! He is fun and easy to work with, and always surprises us with his mad skills. This role has been very new for him, with having to navigate a world in which he is bullied by all. He has a wonderful sense of humor and puts up with it well. In real life he has no enemies because nobody can NOT like Shayne. Shayne appreciates the support of his adoring fans in this community, as well as his amazing family (his biggest fans).
Debbie Miller – Debbie was recently seen on our very own stage in Cash on Delivery, and was in our production of Just Desserts as well. Just like the rest of us, she has developed the addiction that is acting! She is so excited to perform again. She is grateful for the support of her family, friends, and other fans – even if that includes endless teasing and good-natured jokes at her expense. When Debbie is offstage, she is loving spending time in her own world of chaos – otherwise known as her dear husband, kids, and grandkids. She also offers the best peas in Fairview for sale at her home soon! Be sure to stop by!
Tracy Call –
Daddy’s Girl: Old eccentric lady
Steel Magnolias: Old sassy lady
Scrooge MacBeth: Old crabby stage manager
Best Christmas Pageant Ever: Old know-it-all choir director
Just Desserts: Old senile grandma
Blithe Spirit: Old snotty maid
This Murder Was Staged: Really old rich lady
At least I’m consistent.
Bryan Spencer – Bryan loves spending time with North Bend Entertainers and has taken on many roles in productions, both on and offstage. His acting roles have brought out sides of him you’d never otherwise see offstage. When not acting, Bryan is spending time with his family and friends or doing whatever in the world he chooses from moment to moment – because he just retired from his day job! He is creative, funny, a great dad, a good friend, and a genuinely caring person.
Cassandra Heftel – Cassandra is delighted to be performing with North Bend Entertainers in this year’s dinner theatre. Though she had temporarily stepped away from acting and choreographing for a few years, she is pleased to be back in the theatre bringing happiness, laughter, and a secret thrill of anticipation to the audience. Cassandra has had the privilege of being a part of the North Bend Entertainers before, playing roles in Scrooge MacBeth and Just Desserts. Before that, she’s been a part of Timpanogos Valley Theatre with productions including Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma and another well-known musical, Kiss Me Kate. Her love for performing and choreographing entices her back to the theatre again to perform in This Murder Was Staged.
Ellie Hall – Ellie is a recent transplant to Sanpete County. She grew up in Missouri and has always had a flair for storytelling in some form or another. She has been part of community and school theaters in multiple towns and is pleased to participate with North Bend Entertainers. She has enjoyed participating in multiple aspects of a play – acting, writing, and directing – and has been in Oliver!, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Big Fish, and Miracle Worker, and has directed a few school plays including You Can’t Take it With You.When not being over dramatic on stage, Ellie enjoys hiking the mountains, writing, reading, sewing, and drawing.
Kamron Cox – Kamron is ecstatic to be able to be part of yet another play with North Bend Entertainers. He has been in past productions such as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, where he basically played himself as a naughty and mischievous teenager. He has also been very active in the North Sanpete drama department, and has been in a plethora of musicals as well as pieces for competitions at region and state. He owes it all to his best buddy Tavian, who convinced him to join that first musical in Amelie, and without whom he would be nowhere. Kamron also enjoys doing other things sometimes, including video games, hanging out with friends, and feeding Twitter propaganda to his over 700 followers.
Tyson Smith – Tyson really is a big fan of dogs and has a lot of experience taking care of them. He has had dogs in his home his whole life – sometimes more dogs than people in the home! He enjoys being involved in drama most times in his life, but his family likes it best when he keeps it onstage. He recently finished performing with NSHS in their production of Hadestown, and has been in many productions with the North Bend Entertainers in the past several years. He’s even written some of his own playscripts for some of his school performances. He’s very creative and entertaining. We’re glad to have him in this show with us!
Marc Anderson – Marc started his acting career around six or seven when he was in The Music Man with his mom and both his siblings. From then on he has enjoyed being in many different plays (mostly musicals) in many different roles in many different stages of life. Marc even met the love of his life, Sarah, onstage in The Fiddler on the Roof. Acting with North Bend Entertainers has given him the opportunity to continue this part of his life. Marc is very glad that in this role he gets to be fully clothed and in men’s clothing for the duration of the play. Marc’s true goal with this group has been to put on a musical that many families can be involved in together – as families – so other children can have the opportunity to fall in love with the stage and bring joy to them and others. He invites all who are enjoying the work of the North Bend Entertainers to come and try out for our summer play, which will be The Fiddler on the Roof!! Come join our troop and bring enjoyment to the lives of others as you get to know the others in our group. This is a true blessing in life!
Cody Smith – Cody Smith is a homegrown local who has been in the theatre industry since he was young. His first role was “Caliban” in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Throughout his life, he has been in roles in North Sanpete High School and in North Bend Entertainers, with his most recent appearance in Snow College’s “Enemy of the People” as “The Mayor.” He is currently at SUU studying to become a high school Theatre Teacher.
Ryan Smith – This is Ryan’s first time onstage, and may or may not be his last. (Especially depending on if we have some good living prop roles available.) However, he is quite entertaining offstage when he isn’t even trying to act or put on a show. As a general rule he sticks behind the scenes of productions – doing all the other important things that make these shows a success! We are grateful he was willing to step in and help us with this role!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS –
Patrick Greene is the author of I Quit, Masterclasses, Instructions for Hugs (Stage Partners), and Brief Interviews with Internet Cats (Playscripts). He is the co-author of Rogues’ Gallery (Stage Partners), The Alibis, A Simpler Time, Scared Silly, Around the World in 8 Plays, The Very UnMerry Adventures of Robin Hood, The Edgar Allan Poe Afterlife Radio Show, (Playscripts) as well as the musical Our Christmas Carol (Broadway Licensing). He lives in New York City and he owns no pets.
Jason Pizzarello is a playwright and Co-founder of Stage Partners with director/writer Morgan Gould. His plays have been produced/developed with Veterans Repertory Theater, Penguin Rep Theater, Everyday Inferno Theatre Company, Blue Rider/Classic Stage Company, 3-Legged Dog, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Irondale Ensemble, HERE Arts Center, Clubbed Thumb, Source Festival (DC), and many others. Over forty of his plays for young actors are published and have been produced in all 50 states and over 20 countries. When he’s not writing, he proudly serves as a logistics officer with the New York Army National Guard but reports directly to his two young daughters in Connecticut. For more info visit www.jasonpizzarello.com.
Comments
Leave a comment Trackback