MARIEMONT (OH) – Mariemont Players, Inc. announces the cast for the first production of its 2019-2020 season, IS HE DEAD? Michele Mascari makes her MPI directorial debut with the comedy by Mark Twain adapted by David Ives.
The cast includes:
- Nick Young – Francois Millet/Daisy Tillou
- Ryan Bowron – Chicago
- Jimmy Jackson – O’Shaugnessy
- Darren Lee – Dutchy
- Katie Jensen – Marie
- Cat Cook – Cecile/Lefaux
- Roscoe Mlinek – Papa Leroux
- Petrina Barresi – Mme. Bathilde
- Tara Pettit – Mme. Caron
- Ray Lebowski – Andre Bastien
- Danny Davies – Charlie, Basil, Claude, King of France, policeman
The (silent) roles of the Sultan of Turkey and the Emperor of Russia will be played by a series of special guests who will vary through the run.
“I’m excited to work with this cast,” Mascari said. “We have a nice mix of people I’ve worked with before and people I’m just meeting. We have some Mariemont stalwarts and some people these audiences will be seeing for the first time.
“I know we will laugh a lot while putting this show on its feet. You can’t help laughing with this material. Comedy is difficult, but we are up to the challenge and will have audiences laughing with us in September.”
Is He Dead? presents a fictional version of the great French painter Jean-François Millet as an impoverished artist in Barbizon, France. He stages his own death with the help of his colleagues to increase the value of his paintings, then dresses as a woman – ostensibly his sister, the Widow Daisy Tillou – to keep his secret safe. Is He Dead? combines elements of burlesque, farce, and social satire; it features devices like cross-dressing, mistaken identities and romantic deceptions to tell a story that raises questions about fame, greed and the value of art.
Is He Dead? opens Sept. 13 in the historic Walton Creek Theater (4101 Walton Creek Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45227) and runs through Sept. 29.
Tickets are $20 general admission and $15 for students and are available online at www.mariemontplayers.com or by phone at 513-684-1236.
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