Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip.
No, not that one. This is an altogether different three-hour tour that sails “on the sunny side of copyright,” jokes Carolyn Thomas-Davidoff, the writer and director of “Gillian’s Island: Dead Wreckoning,” a murder mystery dinner theatre event produced by the GreenMan Theatre Troupe.
This interactive musical production, an annual fundraising event for the Elmhurst-based troupe, will run for five performances between Feb. 19-28 in the banquet room at Angelo’s Ristorante in Elmhurst. Tickets are $50 and include the show and dinner. Doors will open an hour prior to showtime for a social hour during which the actors, in character, will mingle with audience members a la “Tony and Tina’s Wedding.”
The show is a riot of Baby Boomer TV nostalgia. Twenty years after being rescued from that uncharted desert isle, some of the original castaways, including the Skipper (Tom Hussey) and his Little Buddy (Arthur Andersen), return to help a pair of archeologists explore the caves for native artifacts. Lightning literally strikes twice and they are shipwrecked once again. This time, they are not alone. Joining them are Capt. Gillian (Maureen Corcoran) and the crew and passengers of the likewise shipwrecked Cupid’s Bow (any resemblance to a certain boat where love is shiny and new may not be a coincidence).
They will all be joined by a group of actors portraying pirates from a nearby movie set and who have come to the island in search of rumored treasure. Their “Captain” (Shazad Mehta) suffers a knock on the head and is convinced he really is a pirate.
There will be murder. There will also be meal breaks, during which audience members and the cast will further interact.
The show is family-friendly, or as Thomas-Davidoff labels it, “Elmhurst PG-13.”
GreenMan has produced an original murder-mystery in each of its 12 seasons as a way to fill its coffers. “Anybody who pays any attention to community theatre knows that virtually no theatre group earns all their money from ticket sales,” Thomas-Davidoff says. “Finding sources of money is always tough. This is our way of fundraising.”
Prizes will be offered to audience members who correctly guess the killer or killers. Another prize will go to the audience member dressed in the best costume inspired by the music of the eras represented in the show, the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.
GreenMan prides itself on being a community theatre that “goes beyond the tried and true,” Thomas-Davidoff says. “This is our 12th season; we like what we’re doing we have a good time doing it.”
Recent productions have included an outdoor presentation of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and an original adaptation of “Frankenstein.”
“We’re producing what we hope are interesting productions that will appeal to our audience and offer them the opportunity to see quality theatre in the suburbs,” says Thomas-Davidoff, a founding member. “We are conscious that they can spend their entertainment dollars in a variety of ways. (With ‘Gillian’s Island’) we want to put on a show that’s fun and will lift their spirits in the middle of winter.”
‘Gillian’s Island: Dead Wreckoning’
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When: 6 p.m. doors open, 7 p.m. show, Feb. 19-28
Where: Angelo’s Ristorante, 247 N. York St., Elmhurst
Tickets: $50, show and dinner
Contact: www.greenmantheatre.com