FLEMMING: AN AMERICAN COMEDY THRILLER Comes to the WICA Mainstage
Performances run February 6-7.
The mystery lovers among us will once again find the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) home to an entertaining thriller. Flemming: An American Comedy Thriller, will open on the WICA mainstage February 7 following a Pay What You Wish performance on February 6. This award-winning play was written by Sam Bobrick.
Firesign Theatre legend David Ossman and his son, writer-director Orson Ossman, have created a unique, conceptual stage production based on the big live broadcast hit radio comedies of the past, taped live in front of a studio audience each performance. Flemming is presented as a live radio broadcast from the 1950s—when actors worked with scripts in hand and a “Foley” sound effects team created all the rest, from cocktails and telephones to murder!
With a three-week run through February 22, Flemming is the story of Henry Flemming, who, bored with privilege and his mundane life, sells his lucrative brokerage firm to become a detective. A spoof of the noir thrillers from the 1940s and ’50s, the play is set in Connecticut and is a comedy turned thriller filled with an eccentric and witty cast.
"We're thrilled to have Flemming on the WICA stage," says Executive Artistic Director Deana Duncan. "It is a refreshing and avant-garde take on the noir murder mystery genre, with audiences feeling transported to the live radio performances from half a century ago. Our radio actors will literally be acting as on-air personalities, script in hand as they deliver their lines, and our sound effect actors will be creating an acoustic environment that will be a rich and immersive experience for audiences. We can't wait to share it with you all."
The cast for the WICA production is as follows:
George Tirebiter, our Live broadcast host
David Ossman, Walter
Jim Scullin, Henry Flemming
Suzi Dixon, Karen Flemming
Tristan Steel, Stan Spencer
Deana Duncan, Suzy Spencer
Max Cole-Takanikos, Lt. Davis
Kyle Collins, Vito Mardigian
Cerys Bishop, Miss Havenhurst
Tony Brewer, Foley Artist
Zachary Schneider, Foley Assistant
An opening night party on February 7 will include small bites and a no host bar, and a specialty cocktail will be available throughout the theatre run. This production coincides with the City of Langley’s Murder/Mystery weekend, so don’t miss the fun of being in the audience for a “live taping” of this comedic mystery!
For writer-director Orson Ossman, it's all about transporting viewers to the glamour and intrigue of old Hollywood. Imagine, "it’s 73 degrees and the sun is shining. You pull into the studio lot. The gate guard gives you a guest pass and you find a parking spot. You walk past sound stages full of half-built sets and mingling working actors. You crane your neck to spot a familiar Hollywood face, but alas, they are all extras. You continue down a street that looks like New York, but you are in Los Angeles. You arrive at Stage 5 for the live taping of a long-running radio show, America’s favorite family comedy: The Flemmings. You hear in the hubbub of the crowd that they will be turning The Flemmings into a television series soon—what will that mean for the cast? What will become of the normal, suburban family of Westport, Connecticut? It probably won't be too different from the last hundred radio episodes…You sit in your seat with the rest of the tourists, also here to sneak a peek behind the scenes in Hollywood. It’s almost time for the live broadcast to begin, the Foley artist takes the stage, the lights dim…"
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