Thame Players are starting September off with a bang, staging their production of Lucky Stiff, a wacky, hilarious romp of a musical farce, at the Players Theatre, Thame from 6th-10th September.
The plot revolves around love, murder, dogs and diamonds: Harry Witherspoon, an unassuming shoe salesman, is forced to take the murdered and embalmed body of his late Uncle Anthony, a former croupier, on vacation to Monte Carlo.
If Harry succeeds in passing his uncle off as alive, he stands to inherit $6 million, but if he fails, the money will go to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn – or to Uncle Anthony’s gun-toting ex-lover, Rita La Porta. Rita is also hot on the trail of the inheritance, having been Anthony’s former co-conspirator and embezzler of the $6 million. And hot on Rita’s trail is her brother Vinnie di Ruzzio, who has been blamed for the crime!
Based on the 1983 novel The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth, Lucky Stiff was the first collaboration between acclaimed lyricist and librettist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty, first performed off-Broadway in 1988. It won the Richard Rodgers Award for that year, followed by Washington’s Helen Hayes Award for best musical in 1990.
Tom Mackriell, who is directing the Thame Players’ production, said, “Lucky Stiff is an offbeat murder mystery with a difference, complete with zany characters, mistaken identities, love interests, disguises and, of course, the omnipresent corpse. There are also some great songs, including Something Funny's Going On, Fancy Meeting You Here, and the finale, Good To Be Alive. This isan unmissable show and an audience charmer. Do see it!”
Thame Players’ patrons can also benefit from a special-price dining offer arranged with the Black Horse Pub & Brasserie in Thame, based on a choice of two or three courses with a glass of house wine, on production of a ticket to see the show.
“This is a real giggle and guffaw show, long on craziness, full of fun, demanding nothing more than that you have a good time. And you will.” Gloria Cole, United Press International
“Best of all … is the music. The composer, Stephen Flaherty, and his songs, melodic and refreshing, are the real thing” Edith Oliver, The New Yorker
