It was a night like any other. There were countless nights like it before and there were bound to be more to follow. The air was warm, like a cup of joe that’s been sitting on the diner counter, waiting for its customer finish his cigarette outside. Down by the boat docks, the water slapped gently the face of the land, where masts stood like a thin, white forest in the middle of the harbor.
The sun was mostly drowned by the horizon, leaving the darkness to take root around the town. In the gloaming, people with hats and intentions of entertaining gathered in the dark corners of the Marion Art Center. They wore lipstick, double-breasted suit jackets, and spoke in rough-and-tumble accents.
These seemingly unscrupulous individuals were in fact the Marion Art Center Players, who are performing a play this weekend in the theme of a 1940s radio comedy. The title: “Rick Lowell- Private Eye: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of” by writer Tony Palermo. This is the first time the troupe has done a show in the radio drama style, and that is exactly why producer and co-director Nancy Sparklin was drawn to it.
“We always want to put new material up on this stage. I’m a big Garrison Keillor fan, so for a while I’ve wanted to do a radio show,” Sparklin said. “His sound guy, Tom Keith, was just outstanding. I thought, ‘You know what? I want to do something like that!’” Keith, who provided sound effects for the popular weekend radio show “A Prairie Home Companion,” died last October.
The show itself encompasses all the classic elements of old radio. The dialog drips with melodrama, the characters are as crooked as a spiral staircase, and the comedy is continuous. And, of course, there is a sound effects table, chock full of a random assortment of items, including a rotary telephone, a pillow (that is beaten with a club), a door lock, and shoes.
“You can picture it in your mind: the car sounds, gunshots, the voices,” said co-director Sheila Furtado. “It’s not an obvious form of entertainment.”
The show is presented upstairs at the MAC cabaret style, and light refreshments of wine and soft drinks are available. Tickets are still available for the two remaining performances in the run on Saturday May 18 at 8:00pm and Sunday May 19 at 4:00 pm. Tickets are $12.50 for Marion Art Center members and $15 for non-members. For more information or to make reservations, call the Art Center at 508-748-1266.
By Eric Tripoli
