COQUILLE — The cast of the summer melodrama and the singers/dancers who perform in the olios between acts are working at a heady pace to prepare for the opening of this year’s play at the Sawdust Theatre, 120 N. Adams St.
“We’ve just started incorporating some special-effect elements into the play rehearsals that I think the audience is really going to enjoy,” said Stacey Lynn Bell, who is directing the 2024 “crimedy,” titled “My, What a Circus” or “Keep Your Big Hands Off My Bigfoot!”
The performance combines an attempted kidnapping, a real “kidnapping,” loads of laughs and a few surprises.
“The play is full of gags and laughs that guests of all ages will appreciate,” Bell said, adding, “with his name right in the title, it’s safe to assume that our elusive, big-footed friend might make a guest appearance on stage.”
Each year the play is double-cast so the actors and actresses take turns performing throughout the summer schedule. The play debuts at 7 p.m. Friday, May 31, at a Sawdust Theatre Champagne Benefit sponsored by the Rotary Club of Coquille. Tickets are $25 and are available from Rotarians or at River Cities Realty, 135 Second St., Coquille.
Performances are scheduled at 7 p.m. every Saturday until Labor Day with some Friday evening and Sunday afternoon matinees sprinkled in here and there. A full schedule is available at https://www.sawdusttheatre.com/wpsite/performance-schedule/.
The melodrama, written by Lynn Kindred and Marty Brennan, first was performed on the Sawdust Theatre stage about a dozen years ago. A couple of the cast members were in the play then, “but they’re playing different roles,” Bell said.
The cast chosen for the summer extravaganza consists of 20 actors and actresses portraying 10 characters.
Jesse Knudsen and Michael Haggbloom are cast as Ebenezer Goodsoul, a retired lumberjack who lives with his grandchildren in a small cabin on the edge of the Oregon wilderness.
Hailey Waterman and Cassie White play Miss Abigail Goodsoul, the sweet and well-mannered granddaughter of Ebenezer. She is enamored with Cyrus, though she is too soft-spoken to talk to him on her regular visits to town.
Dean Hallmark and Johnny Crawford take the role of Cyrus Morningside, the son of Matilda. Cyrus helps out at the post office. Quick-witted but shy, he is totally infatuated with Abigail but, alas, is too tongue-tied to ever speak to her.
Kathi Simonetti and Kaylee Kutsch portray Matilda Morningside, postmistress and mother to Cyrus. She’s a good-hearted widow who has a partiality for Ebenezer Goodsoul.
Kendall Roberts and Donny Argo act as Rufus Goodsoul, the precarious younger brother of Abigail. He loves to tease his sister about her feelings for Cyrus.
Dan Barnett and Marc Ogle, dressed in a black top hat and cape, play Darius Dingling (Boo … Hiss!), the evil and conniving owner of the “famous” Dingling Brothers Three-Ring Circus. He’s on the hunt for a big-footed critter to add to his circus attractions. Darius has an unending lust for money — and sweet young things!
Caleb Prince and Alex Goble portray Dorfius Dingling, the dimwitted, but sincere, younger brother of Darius.
Nancy Wilson and Joanne Ogle are cast as Jezebel Golddigger, a self-absorbed woman with an uncanny ability to attract men of means. She also possesses an uncanny ability to find herself widowed on a regular basis.
Heather Mong and Daricca Kelly play Beatrice Boilermaker. Enthusiastic, but often overshadowed, Beatrice is the plain barmaid at Bill’s Place. (Bill’s Place!) Forever wistful and longing for love, she becomes smitten with the dim-witted Dorfius.
Oh, and we can’t forget Ed Tyner as Bigfoot, the tall and elusive woodland creature who is the object of the Dingling Brothers’ search.
Will Darius’s lust for money be abated once he captures the elusive Bigfoot, or will his desire for innocent young maidens leave the town whirling when he kidnaps sweet Abigail as well?
Can Cyrus rescue both Abigail and Bigfoot from the clutches of the nefarious Darius?
All these questions, and more, will be answered on stage at the Sawdust Theatre this summer!
Tickets are $10 each. They are available at River Cities Realty, 135 Second St., Coquille, online at https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/sawdusttheatre/4691 or at the door.
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