 History |
1996 |
| May 23, 1996, was the starting date for the fourth Mahoney State Park melodrama season. Additionally, after discussion with manager Bruce Eveland, the second Fremont Dinner Train melodrama season was also introduced. There was one significant schedule change for the summer season. One of the two Sunday matinee performances was dropped, as past attendance had not been sufficient to warrant both. A time of 3:00 was set to give patrons ample time to take advantage of the dinner/show combination offered during the fall season. The train show season was extended to ten performances during the summer. Our casting of three male and three female actors at the park was continued and three female and two male actors were cast for the train show, as it appeared that five actors would make a nice show without making it too crowded for the compact environment of a railroad dining car. Some personnel changes were made to both the cast and staff. As in past seasons, some of the cast graduated and moved out of the area. The plays selected for production at Mahoney were "Rustlers of Red Rock" by D. Chapelle, "The Fat's in the Fire" by local writer Peg Sheldrick and "The Villain's Secret" by Producer John Burkhart. The play chosen for the dinner train was the popular "Goodbody's Gold" by D. Chapelle, who agreed to re-write the play for five actors instead of the original seven. Shannon Marple-Hespe agreed to accept the position of director for the train show. There was also a short fall season planned, but instead of running the train show, it was decided to go with a fifth play "The Phantom of Darkgrove" written and directed by Mr. Chapelle. A local theatre group had contracted with Nebraska Game & Parks to run a play for four weeks after the fall melodrama season was over, but had to cancel due to inability to cast the play. As a result, the fall melodrama ran a total of nine weeks. Cast member Greg Tellason had to leave for one weekend to attend his brother's wedding during the summer season so Steve Nolan and D. Chapelle stood in for him. Both did an excellent job. |
The Production Staff for the 1996 summer season |
| Producer/Director .......................John Burkhart |
| Music Director .............................Linda Laessle |
| Costume Design ..............Donna Himmelberger |
| Set Design ................................... Kevin Colbert |
| Makeup Design ................ William M. Cover II |
| Technical Director.......................Tom Curtright |
| Set Construction ........................Mark Matulka, Nick Robinson, Bill Kiesling |
| Cast Left to right: Quiet Harry (Brad Boesen), Lily White (Laura Holman), Scarlett Vixen (Lisa Mercer), Steve Dashing (Gregory Tellason), Shame Bushwacker (William M. Cover II), and Blossom White (Sara Bucy). |
The Cast of "Rustlers of Red Rock" |
| Quiet Harry.............................................Brad Boesen |
| Lily White............................................Laura Holman |
| Shame Bushwacker....................William M. Cover II |
| Blossom White............................................Sara Bucy |
| Steve Dashing.................................Gregory Tellason |
| Scarlett Vixen..........................................Lisa Mercer |
| Lord Lovell Bacon (William M. Cover II) reacts to a potion served to him by lovely vamp Hope Chicago (Laura Holman) while closely observed by cleverly disguised detective Agatha Crispie (Sara Bucy). |
The cast of "The Fat's in the Fire" |
| Frida Cutlett.............................................Lisa Mercer |
| Chops Porknoy................................Gregory Tellason |
| Agatha Crispie............................................Sara Bucy |
| Pinkney Suede.........................................Brad Boesen |
| Lord Lovell "Lovie" Bacon.......William M. Cover II |
| Hope Chicago.......................................Laura Holman |
| Accountant Percy Pencilpoint (Gregory Tellason) and hero Rex Robust (William M. Cover II), are as shocked as heroines Laura and Loretta Lovestruck (Lisa Mercer and Laura Holman) as mysterious stranger Vanya Vandalgrabber (Sara Bucy) is molested by villain Sylvester Stoneheart (Brad Boesen) |
The cast of "The Villain's Secret" |
| Loretta Lovestruck.............................Laura Holman |
| Laura Lovestruck...................................Lisa Mercer |
| Sylvester Stoneheart..............................Brad Boesen |
| Vanya Vandalgrabber................................Sara Bucy |
| Rex Robust................................William M. Cover II |
| Percy Pencilpoint............................Gregory Tellason |
The Fremont Dinner Train Melodrama |
| Grammie Grumpree (Emily C. Williams) cowers and heroine Sugar Goodbody (Shannon Marple-Hespe) looks on in shock as hero Bob Faithful (Jared Minary) is threatened by villain I. B. Fowler (Brett Sheridan). |
The cast & crew of "Goodbody's Gold" |
| Grammie Grumpree......................Emily C. Williams |
| I. B. Fowler....,......................................Brett Sheridan |
| Sugar Goodbody....................Shannon Marple-Hespe |
| Bob Faithful............................................Jared Minary |
| Teddi Bustier.....................................Jennifer Walker |
| Producer .............................................John Burkhart |
| Director.................................Shannon Marple-Hespe |
| Costume Design .....................Donna Himmelberger |
The Mahoney State Park Fall Melodrama |
| Heroine Tillie Webshuttle (Holly Vierk) gives thought to an age-old question. Is the masked person next to her (Phantom Toby Crawford) good or evil? |
The cast of "The Phantom of Darkgrove" |
| Tillie Webshuttle/Ernestine /May..........Holly Vierk |
| The Phantom/Dexter Darkgrove......Toby Crawford |
| Dottie Darkgrove...................................Heidi Nolan |
| Aykroyd Darkgrove/Evil Genius...........D. Chapelle |
Production Staff |
| Producer..............................................John Burkhart |
| Director....................................................D. Chapelle |
| Costume Design......................Donna Himmelberger |
| Music Director.....................................Linda Laessle |
| Set Design............................................Kevin Colbert |
| Set Construction.............Mark Matulka, Steve Coffey, Bill Kiesling |
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