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Balfour Actors Serve up Comedy and Murder
YourHub.com: Louisville
by Nicole DeJarnatt
(From left to right) Peg Lynn and Shirley Feirn — Lodge residents and members of the Balfour Drama Troupe — star in 'Cafe Murder.'
Several months after resident Barbara Taylor brought forth the idea to form a drama club, residents from the Lodge at Balfour, an independent living community in Louisville, presented their first performance — a dinner theatre murder mystery by Nathan Hartswick filled with laughter, suspense and waterless entrees.
The Balfour Drama Troupe opened their production, "Cafe Murder," on Saturday, Dec. 17, to a delighted audience of residents and families attending The Lodge's annual holiday party.
Taylor, whose acting credits include roles with The Footlighters in "The Women," "Arsenic and Old Lace," and "The Man Who Came to Dinner" at the Broomfield Senior Center, proposed forming an internal drama troupe to Lodge Activities Director Lisa Suprenand back in October.
"It's a fun thing to do and people get excited about it," said Taylor. "It changes your whole life being an actor," she added.
Suprenand, who co-directs the play with Taylor, arranged for Dawn Beck, an actress from the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, to teach weekly acting classes and drama basics at the Lodge. For four weeks, Beck coached the seniors using drama drills, games and techniques to help create eye contact between characters and showcase various character intentions.
"The play has given everyone something unique and challenging to work on," said Suprenand. "Only a few have ever been involved with drama before."
Nine cast members, including Suprenand, were involved in the debut production and several other Balfour residents and staff — prompter, Lydia Dodge, resident; props and sound effects technician, Jade Hansen, Lodge activities assistant; and music coordinator Michael Pavlo, resident — worked behind the scenes.
The play begins with a group of women waiting to be served at the infamous Café Murder, where Rosemary Saint-John (played by Lodge resident Dorothy Bean), a demanding, unpopular hypochondriac convinced she is allergic to water, gets a surprise serving of death on her birthday.
When she disappears and is presumed murdered, the only objective witnesses in the restaurant are the audience members, who must cast their vote. Was it one of Rosemary's sisters — a beauty queen (Shirley Feirn, resident), a Southern belle (Peg Lynn, resident), a trucker (Elaine Erickson, resident) and a banker (Mary Schweitzer, resident) — or was it the self-taught detective (Bob Enrietto, resident), the passionate French chef, (Pam Forcey, resident), the polite and proper maitre d' (Suprenand) or the sarcastic waitress (Dorothy Burton, resident)?
The Balfour Drama Troupe will take a brief holiday respite, but will gear up in late January to begin planning a Spring Variety Show. Stay tuned for more details and show times.