Elmhurst, IL — GreenMan Theatre Troupe began its production history with a murder mystery dinner theatre show called “The Boardwalk Melody Hour Murders” in November of 2004. That production was directed by GreenMan Artistic Director David Soria. It also served as a fundraiser to help get GreenMan up and running. Ten years later, Soria reflected on that beginning, the journey until now, and where GreenMan aims to go in the future. These murder mystery fundraisers became a yearly event, and the current show in this tradition is titled “Doubtful Abbey: Murder and Mayhem at Fussworthy Manor” by Carolyn Thomas-Davidoff, who is a GreenMan board member and also the director of the production, which opens February 21 and runs for 5 performances until March 2.
“Although we originally intended the dinner show to be a one-night-only fundraiser, we had so much interest from our audiences, we added a second performance. The murder mystery concept was popular, so we decided to include a dinner show every season. The shows are always different, and are great fun for everyone involved. The audiences love the interactive nature of the performance, and it is a wonderful challenge for the actors to perform in this way,” Soria explained. The first GreenMan season offered only two productions. The second one was “The Fantasticks,” which is a musical production. GreenMan looked back to the future in its tenth season with its fall production of “Lucky Stiff,” which is the first musical to hit the GreenMan stage since that first season. It played to full houses over the course of its four week run.
Soria pondered why GreenMan continued to grow and be successful over the years. “I think one important lesson we learned early on was to set the bar high, to always strive to do a little better than we did on the previous show,” he said. As the years continued, GreenMan’s season schedule grew to three productions a year. This current season will have offered five productions by the time spring rolls around, including a storytelling production as well as GreenMan’s Showcase production. The Showcase typically delves into plays with significance, an edge, or a new slant on a classic tale. For example, the production “Soldier, Come Home” dealt with actual letters from the Civil War during the time Elmhurst was commemorating the 150th anniversary of that conflict. Another Showcase production was “The Guys,” which dealt with the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks from a New York City firefighter’s point-of-view. The show ran during the tenth anniversary of that fateful day. Last year’s showcase proved to be lighter fare with an new adaptation of the classic children’s book “The Secret Garden.”
Soria also reflected on the types of productions done over the years and why they made GreenMan unique. “I think the mix of plays that GreenMan has produced is another reason for our success. We’ve put on some really well known and popular titles, like ‘The Odd Couple’ and later this spring, we will be doing ‘Harvey.’ But we’ve also taken chances with difficult or less well known works, like ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘The Rimers of Eldritch.’ Some of the titles that have been most popular with our audiences were, surprisingly, classics like ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Macbeth.’ I’m also quite pleased that GreenMan has been willing to produce new work. We premiered a new adaptation of several of Edgar Allan Poe stories in ‘Nevermore: The Dark World of Edgar Allan Poe’ and included four new one acts in last spring’s production ‘After the End of the World.’ I might also note that beginning with our sixth season’s production of ‘Speakeasy or Die Hard,’ all our dinner mystery productions have been original works. That’s very exciting for a theatre to premiere works on their stage. Not many community theatres are willing to do that on a regular basis,” he explained.
Thomas-Davidoff has worked on all ten dinner mysteries and has directed the last nine, including the upcoming production, which is a spoof on the popular British television show “Downton Abbey.” She thought about what makes this type of production such a popular event. “It provides a whole evening’s entertainment: dinner and a show. When you add the free parking, it becomes value entertainment, without the stress of driving and finding parking in downtown Chicago. The murder mysteries are also appealing because of the content — they are usually set in an interesting location and a specific time period, which helps make them more exotic and interesting. This year’s murder mystery takes place in the early part of World War II, just outside of London,” she commented. This type of show is performed in the round in the banquet hall of Angelo’s Ristorante in Elmhurst. The characters move about the room and interact with the audience as the mystery unfolds. Musical and dance numbers from the time period occur during the evening as the several course Italian meal is served throughout the show. Audience members often get into the spirit of the show by wearing outfits from that era, although this is not a requirement to attend, but merely part of the fun. The audience members who correctly guess who the murderer is get a chance to win a prize as does the person (or people) with the most original costume.
“Doubtful Abbey: Murder and Mayhem at Fussworthy Manor” opens on Friday February 21 at 7 PM. Additional performances occur on Saturday February 22 at 7 PM, Friday February 28 at 7 PM, Saturday March 1 at 7 PM, and Sunday March 2 at 6 PM. Doors open an hour before showtime for a social hour with cash bar. The actors, as their characters, mingle among the audience, who may learn some of the backstories which could lead to clues about the crime within the play. This fun interaction continues on during the meal breaks throughout the evening. Tickets are $50, which includes the full course meal and performance. Free parking is abundantly available. Tickets may be reserved by calling the box office at 630-464-2646 or by visiting the GreenMan website at www.greenmantheatre.org. The sooner tickets are reserved, the closer to the center of the room patrons will be seated, ensuring a better perspective on the action. All tickets must be reserved and paid in advance. No tickets will be sold at the door in order to give the restaurant sufficient notice on a dinner count. Angelo’s Ristorante is located at 247 N. York in Elmhurst.
While Soria is excited about the upcoming production, he also looks ahead to GreenMan’s future. “Now that the theatre has made it to the ripe old age of ten, we’ve started thinking about goals for the next few years. Some things we want to keep doing, like producing a great variety of shows for the community, and involving new people in every aspect of putting on shows. But we also want to expand opportunities for performances and other programs, like our classes. Some day it would be great to have a permanent performance space in the community. We think there are a lot of exciting years ahead for GreenMan!”
GreenMan Theatre Troupe is a non-profit 501[c]3 organization whose mission is to provide a source of cultural enrichment and pride for the community by presenting diverse, quality productions and providing opportunities for personal growth in the theatrical arts. GreenMan has been presenting plays in Elmhurst since being founded in 2003 by Jill Perez, David Soria, and Carole Thorpe. Past productions include “Smoking Gun,” “Dracula,” and “Pride and Prejudice.” GreenMan also offers classes and workshops for members and the community and welcomes new members and participants in all aspects of theatre production. GreenMan programs are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Financial support provided by the City of Elmhurst Community Grant Program.