These are not the usual suspects.
Audiences will be screaming with laughter as a crooked carpet salesman, a philandering poet, a pair of calculating twins and other quirky characters sing their way through a story full of murderous twists and turns in The Last Resort, on stage at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse from March 4 to 22.
Written by Canada’s preeminent playwright Norm Foster, this off-the-wall murder mystery musical follows the trail of Nick Galeazzo, a New York restaurateur who checks in to the Last Resort, a remote lodge in rural Saskatchewan, to hide from the mob.
Paranoid and suspicious of everyone he meets, Galeazzo is always on the lookout for the elusive hitman out to get him. As the plot builds, theatregoers can’t help but put their detective skills to the test as they try to figure out whodunit.
A cast of outrageous characters has been assembled for this witty musical mystery. Audiences will be in for triple the laughs, courtesy of the casting announcement of three veteran Drayton Entertainment actors to anchor the production: Keith Savage, Wade Lynch and Eddie Glen.
Savage leads the hunt for the killer as Inspector Kenneth Closely, Lynch takes on the hysterically funny role of Freda Heitz, the eager-to-please proprietor of the Last Resort, and Glen is Sid Barzini, a carpet salesman who comes to the hotel with his wife Liz for their 24th anniversary.
Savage is known for his goofy physicality and performances in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Boeing Boeing, Annie and many others. Audiences will remember Lynch as Tony the hilarious hairdresser in Shear Madness and DJ Little Big Man in A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline.
Glen has appeared as Monsieur Thénardier in Les Misérables and Sir Robin in Monty Python’s Spamalot among others.
Jayme Armstrong, who portrayed Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, takes on the dual role of twin sisters Julia and Jessica Youngstead.
Kristen Peace, who played Ursula the Sea Witch in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, takes on the role of FBI agent Angela Miller. Justin Bott, who recently played Doug Ford in Rob Ford: The Musical, is Nick Galeazzo, a mob informant in protective custody.
Susan Johnston-Collins is Sid’s wife Liz and Dan Payne is Trent Balfour, a poet who is hoping to overcome a seven-year bout of writer’s block
Marc Richard directed and choreographed the performance alongside music director Steve Thomas and set designer Eric Summerley.
Regular performance tickets are $42 for adults; $25 for youth under 20 years of age. Tickets for preview performances and groups of 20 or more are $34. Tickets can be purchased at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, online at www.stjacobscountryplayhouse.com or by calling the box office at 519-747-7788 or toll free at 1-855-372-9866.
