What could be better than enjoying declicious food and great entertainment in a glorious setting?
R.J. Haney Heritage and Museum provides it all with this year’s edition of their popular Villains and Vittles productions.
Fresh from tidying up tables, four talented young people don costumes and take to the stage in an entertaining musical comedy that explores the history of the Salmon Arm area.
Local playwright Peter Blacklock has crafted a winner this year in The Mystery of Dutch Charlie.
Set in 1885, the clever play takes us to a time when the community of Salmon Arm was not yet on the map.
There were however hundreds of people in the area, many of them Chinese workers here to build the Canadian Pacific Railway.
There was also a saloon and a man nick-named Dutch Charlie, a Cajun who arrives in the area from Louisiana.
What happens next is, “murder, murder in the first degree; maybe second, maybe third…”
Aside from one song that could do with a harmonizing tune-up, the musical numbers are fun and the voices fine.
The who’s who of the production include Nicholas McKee as Dutch Charlie, Lisa Body as Berta, Haley McDonnell as Jennie and Levin Chamberlain as Montie the Mountie.
At 16, McKee is looking forward to honing his theatre skills in Salmon Arm Secondary in the fall.
His plans include classes in musical composition, musical theatre and acting.
“I like people looking at me,” laughs the young actor who fell in love with theatre in Grade 8, working behind the scenes until someone encouraged him to step into the limelight.
He has since starred as Mike Teevee in Willy Wonka Junior and a number of smaller roles in Bye Bye Birdie and Life in the Bowery.
No stranger to the stage, having performed at Shuswap Theatre, Lisa Body is stellar as the sultry temptress, Berta.
Introduced to the stage at an early age by her mother, Body fell in love with theatre.
A second-year student in a human kinetics program at UBC Okanagan, Body has appeared in Shuswap Theatre productions of Two Gents, Aladdin and Puss ’n Boots.
“I’m a real community theatre fan,” she says. “You get to do everything.”
Seventeen-year-old Haley McDonnell also has a passion for music and theatre and is looking forward to Grade 12 and participating in musical theatre, acting, choir and the jazz band.
Her acting credits include SAS productions of Bye Bye Birdie and Life on the Bowery.
Last, but definitely not least, is 16-year-old Levin Chamberlain, who plays feisty Montie the Mountie.
Entering Grade 11 in the fall, Chamberlain has played the White Rabbit in Alice and Wonderland and Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
These young actors have bonded well and their irrepressible spirit and ability to communicate with the audience is a crowd-pleaser.
Young children at last Friday night’s production were eager to help solve the mystery, adding to the merrriment in the outdoor setting.
This is a very entertaining way to spend and evening.
And the food prepared in Majorie’s Tea Room is a delicious and filling serving of roast pork and trimmings, followed by the ever-popular rhubarb crisp after the show.
Ticket prices include coffee and tea, but wine is available for those wish to purchase it by the glass.
Shows run every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evening through Aug. 26.
Reservations for Villains and Vittles are a must. Tickets are $24 for adults, $21 for seniors and $14 for children under 13 (including HST).
The latest special event offering at Haney is on July 23,with Music in the Village beginning at 5 p.m.
For more information, call 250-832-5243, visit www.salmonarmmuseum.org or find them on Facebook. R.J. Haney Heritage Village is located at 751 Highway 97B Salmon Arm, next to the Salmon Arm Camping Resort.
