Earlier this month, Tom and I went to The Troy Civic Theatre to see The Butler Did It by Walter and Peter Marks. One viewer called it "an enjoyable bit of fluff". She was right but sometimes that is exactly what we want when life gets harried.
All six of the actors are in this photo behind the railing in the lobby. Jessica Suba, wearing the black gown, played the diva, Natalie. She was outstanding in her role as the actress determined to outshine everyone else. In the play within the play, she is Angela Butler, second wife of Raymond Butler.
Tina Hayes who has dark hair made a lovely blond Victoria Butler in the play within the play. She is the daughter of Raymond Butler and despises Angela Butler, her stepmother. Caleb Magill, facing the other actors, is Raymond Butler, caught between his daughter and his new wife. The actor in the white shirt and suspenders, Scott Atkinson, is the butler for the Butlers. Second from the left, Steve Dietrich, is Anthony J. Lefcourt who is writing the play, The Butler Did It, within the play, The Butler Did It. During the play he points out that all of the actors are "Butlers". Are you confused yet?
The actors are confused, too because Anthony J. Lefcourt, the writer, and also the director and producer, has not written the final scene so nobody know who will be murdered and who will be the murderer. Steve Dietrich did an excellent job portraying this obsessed man.
There is a murder and someone does die. Just what is really happening? Strange as it may seem, the audience found a lot to laugh about.
Will Chuck Fox who plays Detective Mumford solve the mystery? Will you solve the mystery?
Is this play a thriller? a farce? a comedy? a study of human personalities?
Terressa Knoch was the director. She did an excellent job of creating a cohesive whole from what could have been an incomprehensible jumble.
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