Haylofters to present musical murder mystery for nine shows
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
Imagine wheeling the corpse of your uncle through the glitz of Monte Carlo pursued by ditzy, gun-toting criminal and a determined dog lover who are bent on stealing the $6 million inheritance you’ve been promised.
That is the premise for the Haylofters’ fall production of “Lucky Stiff,” which opens Thursday and runs for three weekends at the Malt House Theater in Burlington.
The show, directed by Pamela Schroeder, is a musical comedy farce written by Lynn Ahrens with music by Stephen Flaherty, and is produced through special arrangement with Music Theatre International.
“Lucky Stiff” is an offbeat, hilarious, musical murder mystery farce, complete with mistaken identities, $6 million in diamonds and a corpse in a wheelchair, according to Schroeder, who is a veteran of several Haylofters’ shows.
The story revolves around an unassuming English shoe salesman who is forced to take the embalmed body of his recently murdered uncle on a vacation to Monte Carlo in order to inherit $6 million. If not, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn…or to his uncle’s gun-toting ex-wife.
The primary roles are acted by Logan Bydalek, who plays shoe salesman Harry Whitherspoon; Tara Patrozelli, who plays Annabel Glick, a no-nonsense representative of the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn; Leanne Klausegger as Rita LaPorta, the high-strung lover of the deceased Tony Hendon; and Rob King as Vinnie DiRuzzi, Rita’s mild-mannered optometrist brother.
Other cast members include: Mike Austin, Nicole Ehlert, James Howe, Jacob Martin, Rachel Oldenburg, John Roberts, Megan Schroeder and Marti Todd.
With 10 actors and approximately 40 roles, most of the cast members play multiple roles, according to Schroeder.
“My cast is amazing,” she said. “Our challenges have been primarily technical ones.”
Performance dates are Sept. 28 through 30, Oct. 6 through 8, and Oct. 13 through 15. Sunday performances are at 2 p.m. All other performances are at 7:30 p.m. Opening night tickets are $13. All other performances are $15.
Tickets are for sale online at brownpapertickets.com/event/3079344. Tickets are also available at The Coffee House at Chestnut and Pine, 492 N. Pine St., Burlington, and will be on sale at the box office on performance dates, one hour before curtain.
The Malt House Theater is at 109 N. Main Street, Burlington. For further information, send an email to [email protected], visit thehaylofters.com, or call the box office at (262) 763-9873 and leave a message and phone number.
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