By Dr. Chad Cornwell
Newsome Wolfpack Theatre is excited to present its fall show, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields’ The Play That Goes Wrong.
Shows will take place Wednesday through Friday, October 26-28 at 7 p.m. in the Newsome High School Theatre, located at 16550 FishHawk Blvd. in Lithia. Adult tickets are $10 and student tickets are $5; they can be purchased at https://newsomewolfpacktheatre.ludus.com/ or at the door if available. Premier tickets that are closer to the stage and eligible for early entrance are also available for $15 (adults) and $10 (students).
As the play begins, the audience is welcomed to opening night of the Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. This 1920s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show — an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences.
All eight cast members are powerhouse performers from the Newsome theater program. Chris, the show’s ‘director’ as part of the Cornley University Drama Society, is played by junior Jacob Ost, who was recently involved in the film Paragon. Ashlyn Jade Lopez (Disney’s Christmas…Again?!, The Vampire Diaries) plays Annie, the bumbling stage manager trying to hold the show together. Daxton Chapell is Trevor, the show’s technical director who becomes roped into the production against his will. Charles Haversham (played by Athan Huskey) has been ‘murdered,’ his fiance, Sandra (Liliana Gonzalez), and her lover, Max (Edem Yao-Kumah, also playing the Haversham gardener), are suspects. Kassidy Curnutte appears as Roberta, Charles’ old school friend, and Caroline Peacock brings more humor as Denise/Haversham’s butler.
The onstage cast is only half of the humor.
Director Dr. Chad Cornwell said, “The technical element is probably the most important part of this show. There are problems from the very beginning, all the way to the set’s complete destruction by the end of the show.”
Leading the technical crew are set designers Christopher Blazer and Nick Davis. Keila Vanda has the challenge of assistant director and principal stage manager, running the entire show.
Of his set ideas, Blazer said, “This is my senior year, and we are literally going out with a bang.”
Last spring, the Straz Center’s Broadway Star of the Future program recognized Blazer for his outstanding set design of Newsome’s production of Catch Me If You Can.
Mark your calendars for a whirlwind of entertainment. For more information, visit www.newsomewolfpacktheatre.com.
