Donna Glen of Norwalk and Sheri Dean of New Canaan journeyed to Hadlyme on August 14th to soak in atmosphere and realistic detail at Gillette Castle, which famed American actor William Gillette designed and lived in during the last 30 years of his life. They are pictured on the terrace outside the castle’s living room, the setting for Ken Ludwig’s mystery/thriller Postmortem. Ms. Glen is reprising her role as set designer for a Town Players of New Canaan mystery directed by Sheri Dean, having created the set for John Kaasik’s The Assassin’s New Friend.
The Town Players of New Canaan will hold open auditions for Ken Ludwig’s mystery thriller Postmortem on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 7 & 8, with possible callbacks on Thursday, September 9, all at 7:30 p.m., at the Powerhouse Performing Arts Center in Waveny Park, New Canaan (3/10 mile to the left off Merritt Parkway Exit 37). Perusal scripts are available at the reference desk of the New Canaan Library. For further information, call director Sheri Dean at (203) 966-2713 or go to tpnc.org.
Postmortem takes place on a spring weekend in 1922 at the home of William Gillette, who has invited the cast of his latest Broadway revival of Sherlock Holmes for a relaxing weekend at his magnificent Gillette Castle overlooking the Connecticut River. In reality, Gillette is determined to find out if Maude, his deceased fiancée who died exactly one year ago, committed suicide or was murdered by one of his cast members. Ludwig cleverly trots out all the classic murder mystery devices as Gillette plans to solve the case himself à la Sherlock Holmes!
An aficionado of mystery/suspense dramas, Sheri Dean has directed for the Town Players The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Penultimate Problem of Sherlock Holmes, Mousetrap, Deathtrap, The Assassin’s New Friend and Dead Wrong. There are roles in Postmortem for three men and four women. They are William Gillette, a writer/actor and star of the current revival of Sherlock Holmes, in his late 40s to 50s; Bobby Carlyle, an actor and charming man-about-town, early 30s; May Dison, a pretty ingénue, strong-minded, mid 20s; Marion Barrett, an actress, Gillette’s sister, brassy, likeable, mid-40s; Leo Barrett, Marion’s husband, plays Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes; Lilly Warner, Gillette’s aunt, late 60s-70s; and Louise Parradine, an elegant actress and Maude’s best friend, mid-late 30s.
Postmortem production dates are Friday and Saturday, Oct. 29 & 30, Nov. 5 & 6, 12 & 13 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 31 at 2:30 p.m. (home in time for Halloween) and Sunday, November 7th at 2:30 p.m.
