Rialto Community Arts Center plans dinner-theater production

The Rialto Community Arts Center will present a murder-mystery dinner theater, Dead Man’s Chest, at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Rialto Art Gallery, 215 E. Broadway in Morrilton. Among those appearing in the show are, front row, from left, Heather Davis, who plays Annabelle Greatlush, and David Garrett, who plays Gov. Fayette Warren; and back row, Tyler Burgener, who plays Arturo Diablo; Nathan Mobley, who plays Jack Black; Jeff Croswell, who plays Cutler Sinslayer; Brenda Smith, who plays Sookie Sinslayer; April Erickson, who plays Raylene Warren; and Sharon Clarkson, who plays Lilly Laveau.
The Rialto Community Arts Center will present a murder-mystery dinner theater, Dead Man’s Chest, at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Rialto Art Gallery, 215 E. Broadway in Morrilton. Among those appearing in the show are, front row, from left, Heather Davis, who plays Annabelle Greatlush, and David Garrett, who plays Gov. Fayette Warren; and back row, Tyler Burgener, who plays Arturo Diablo; Nathan Mobley, who plays Jack Black; Jeff Croswell, who plays Cutler Sinslayer; Brenda Smith, who plays Sookie Sinslayer; April Erickson, who plays Raylene Warren; and Sharon Clarkson, who plays Lilly Laveau.

MORRILTON — The Rialto Community Arts Center is offering something a little different in the way of entertainment to celebrate a month that includes Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day.

Local actors from the Rialto Community Arts Center will present Dead Man’s Chest, a

murder-mystery dinner theater from Haley Productions, at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Rialto Art Gallery, 215 E. Broadway in Morrilton. Doors will open at 5:30.

Patrons are encouraged to wear Mardi Gras or pirate costumes. Awards will be given for the Best Dressed, as well as Best Detective and

Worst Detective.

The cost is $25 per person and includes a three-course meal — a salad, an entree of Cajun pork loin, bourbon sweet potatoes and Cajun green beans, and a dessert of bread pudding. Guests may bring their own bottle of spirits.

“We were so successful last October when we presented The Mafia Murders as a murder-mystery dinner theater that we decided to do another one,” said Jeff Croswell of Morrilton, who is a member of the Rialto Community Arts Center Board of Directors and director of the upcoming production.

“We sold out both nights last year. People continually asked us when we were going to do another one. When we were planning this year’s season, we decided we would present two murder-mystery dinner theaters — one in the fall around Halloween and one in the spring around Valentine’s Day,” Croswell said.

“Everyone is super excited about it,” he said. “The community has asked for it, so we are trying it this year, at least. We will see what happens.

“As with last year’s production, this is really a collaborative effort. It’s mostly improv with a lot of ad-libbing,” Croswell said.

The play will be presented before and after the dinner.

“We will not be performing while people are eating,” Croswell said. “This will give people in the audience a little more time to have fun and socialize. Plus, it will give us a little time to regroup and be fresh for the next phase of our performance.

“So, in essence, there will be three acts. We will break for the food — salad, an entree and dessert. The big reveal — whodunit — will be after the dessert,” he said.

The setting for Dead Man’s Chest is 1857 in New Orleans.

“We are hosting an end-of-Mardi Gras ball given by Gov. Fayette Warren and his wife, Raylene,” said Croswell, who also appears in the play as Cutler Sinslayer, a magistrate with his own personal version of law and order against criminals, pirates and other malfeasants.

“As part of the festivities, Raylene has also planned for a local actor, Jack Black from the Theater of the Vampires, to entertain the guests,” Croswell said.

“Things start to turn bad as more mysteries are revealed and more characters are not who they seem to be,” Croswell said. “There is a treasure up for grabs, and everyone is willing to kill to get it. The audience will be asked to solve the mystery of who is committing this murder and why.”

In addition to Croswell, other principal characters in Dead Man’s Chest are as follows:

• Gov. Fayette Warren is played by David Garrett of Plumerville.

“He is the obsessive-compulsive governor of New Orleans,” Garrett said. “He is obsessed with himself. He also has a fetish for cleanliness. He can’t stand for anyone to touch him.

“This play is going to be hilarious,” said Garrett, who is a longtime supporter of community theater.

“I’ve played backstage and upstage,” he said. “This time they have cast me to play a cranky old man — I had to get out of character to play him,” he said, laughing.

Garrett, who is a native of Plumerville, is a retired educator. He taught math and science in several school districts and once was the principal at Plumerville High School, which is his alma mater.

• Raylene Warren is portrayed by April Erickson of Conway.

“As the governor’s wife, I have plans for our sudden and unexpected monetary windfall,” said Erickson, who teaches English at Morrilton High School. “My character is extremely outspoken and over the top. She is the controlling force in their relationship.”

Erickson said she has “always been involved in theater.”

“I’m a singer,” she said. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been involved in some kind of performing.”

A graduate of Conway High School and Southern Nazarene University, she appeared in the 2015 production of Broadway on Broadway at the Rialto Community Arts Center.

• Lilly Laveau is played by Sharon Clarkson of Morrilton.

“My character is the governor’s new aide. She is described as a ‘fiery Cajun woman with a deep and abiding love of knives,’” Clarkson said.

“I am going to be taking care of the governor,” she said.

Clarkson made her debut at the Rialto Community Arts Center in last year’s murder-mystery dinner theater. “I played the drunken barmaid,” she said.

She describes herself as “a remodeler.”

“I have several houses here in Morrilton,” she said. “I love the downtown area. I support the arts center; that’s how I got involved.”

• Sookie Sinslayer is played by Brenda Smith of Conway.

“I play the wife of Judge Sinslayer,” Smith said, using her best Southern drawl. “She is frightened and nervous. The judge is not the kind of gentleman everyone thinks he is. She has other issues, too, like her friendship with Raylene.”

Brenda Smith and her husband, Shawn Smith, had minor parts in last year’s murder-mystery dinner theater.

“We have friends here in Morrilton and have been to several performances and movies at the Rialto Theater,” she said. “We thought we would try out for a part, and here we are. We are great supporters of the Rialto.”

Brenda Smith is a liaison for patients in the mammography department at Conway Regional Medical Center in Conway.

• Annabelle Greatlush is played by Heather Davis of Morrilton.

Her character is described as a “doddering, blundering spinster and caretaker of the infirm and elderly.”

Davis said her character “doesn’t love her job but has no choice in doing it in order to make ends meet.

“A girl’s got to have some money,” she said. “This character, and this play, is so much fun.”

Davis is a medical assistant at an occupational-therapy clinic in Conway. She appeared in last year’s murder-mystery dinner theater.

“My son was in last year’s production of Broadway on Broadway, and that inspired me to get involved,” she said.

Davis is a graduate of Morrilton High School and the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton.

• Jack Black is portrayed by Nathan Mobley of Morrilton.

“My character is an illustrious actor from the Theater of the Vampires in New Orleans, but he has a secret identity, that of Jack Blackbird, the devious pirate,” Mobley said.

“I am having the time of my life with this character,” he said.

Mobley is a 2009 graduate of Morrilton High School and is making his acting debut at the Rialto Community Arts Center.

“I have acted periodically,” he said, adding that he is a taekwondo instructor as well.

• Arturo Diablo is played by Tyler Burgener of St. Vincent.

Burgener first appeared in a Rialto Community Arts Center production in last year’s murder-mystery dinner theater.

“I love movies, and that led me to auditioning for these plays,” he said. “Plus, I have a friend here, and he encouraged me to get involved.”

Burgener is a 2011 graduate of Wonderview High School. He attended UACCM and plans to return to college in the fall.

His character in Dead Man’s Chest is Lilly’s nephew, “who has been out to sea and cannot attend the Mardi Gras ball.”

Other characters in the upcoming production of Dead Man’s Chest include the following:

• Caleb Roscoe is played by Josh Maupin of Morrilton. Caleb is described as “a very eccentric, very superstitious Cajun local” who thinks he and Annabelle are best friends; however, Annabelle would strongly disagree.

• Malvina Grunch is portrayed by Avery Croswell of Morrilton, daughter of the director and a student at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Morrilton. Malvina falls head over heels for Jack once she knows he is an actor. She is a wannabe actress who has auditioned many, many, many times.

• Elton Coffin is played by Shawn Smith of Conway. Elton is the local undertaker, formerly betrothed to Raylene and still bitter because she broke off their engagement to marry Fayette.

• Harlan Peachtree is played by Brent Wilson of Quitman. Harlan is Cutler Sinslayer’s very efficient secretary, who writes everything down no matter how insignificant.

• Delmar Dubbs is played by Jesse Burgener of St. Vincent. Delmar is Sookie’s brother and a wannabe pirate. He is in love with Lilly.

• Hostesses are played by Theresa Bertram and Sarah Croswell, both of Morrilton. Bertram is secretary of the Rialto Community Arts Center Board of Directors, and Croswell, wife of Jeff Croswell, is president. Each is described as a “hostess with the mostess.”

• Footmen are played by Charlie Gilbreath and Ethan Croswell, son of the director, and both are students at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Morrilton. Jackson Flowers of Morrilton also plays a footman. The footmen are members of the governor’s personal security force.

All tickets for Dead Man’s Chest must be purchased in advance. Tickets may be reserved by email, phone or text. Email rialtomorrilton@gmail.com, or call or text (501) 288-9259. Tickets may be picked up or purchased at the Rialto from 3-4:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

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