Madcap ‘Mystery’ Heads To Stars Playhouse
January 5 – It’s unclear what to expect in “The Mystery of Irma Vep”, a parody of gothic melodramas that opens at the Stars Playhouse.
Cody Ganger, who helmed the series with Kara Coughenour, describes it as “a comedic sendoff to gothic romance, and it contains all the classic tropes of the genre – a spooky mansion, mysterious first wives, vampires, ghosts, bad omen servants, and even a visit to Egypt! This is utter nonsense! “
Ganger said she introduced the play to John Spitzer, the theater house’s artistic director, as it was number one on the list of must-see shows for her husband, Kevin, who stars in the production with Nolan Long.
The play revolves around the events of Mandacrest Estate, where Lord Edgar lives with his new wife, Lady Enid. The famous Egyptologist is still reeling from the tragic and mysterious death of his first wife, Lady Irma, and her son. While Edgar hunts the wolf that terrorizes his sheep, Lady Enid is attacked by a strange creature.
Edgar travels to Egypt and sets out again to find the creature on an adventure involving vampires, werewolves, mummies, and more.
Between them, Long and Ganger play the 10 characters, requiring many quick changes and an agile team consisting of Lucy Brown, Kara Coughenour, Yessi Garcia-Garibay, Karisma Normandin, Angie Palomo, Madison Shuck, Andrea Vega, Olivia Vega and Salvador Vidaurri. .
“It’s a two-person show on stage, but behind the scenes there’s an army that makes the show happen, and we’re lucky to have the best team I could hope for!” Cody Ganger wrote in an email.
The directors agreed that executing the production to make everything go seamless was the hard part.
“Every day we have had times to ask ourselves’ how the hell are we going to do this? “” Coughenour wrote in an email. “Fortunately, both of our actors manage to make everything look easy, but I would say the biggest challenge was working and reworking the technicalities until everything was perfect.”
The pair are excited to bring the fast-paced show to audiences this weekend.
“I just hope when they leave they get a stomach ache from laughing so hard,” Coughenour wrote.
Stefani Dias can be reached at 661-395-7488. Follow her on Twitter: @realstefanidias.