Steven is spending his one day off of the three day weekend working on his Ilion directorial debut, Dirty Work at the Crossroads. I spent part of one of my days off reading it. I thought I could write a few words about the characters without giving away too many plot points. We’ll see.
The play is a Gay ’90s Melodrama. That is, it is characterized by intense emotions and exaggerated characters and plot. Think Snidely Whiplash and “I’ll save you, Nell!” Picture the villain twirling his mustache and doing everybody dirt. Dirty Work‘s villain, Munro Murgatroyd, is mean and rotten, but he is also handsome and debonair, just the sort who might seduce an innocent young girl.
At the beginning of the play, Munro is boarding with the Widow Lovelace, who of course, has no idea he is a dastardly villain. Alas the poor widow, soon to fall victim to Munro’s evil plans (which I won’t tell you; it might spoil it for you).
The hero and heroine are Nellie Lovelace and Adam Oakhart. I expressed the hope in an earlier post that the heroine would not be too typical — ie, she only has be be beautiful, good and get rescued — and Nellie also has some strength. She is beautiful and good, and, let’s be honest, just a little sappy, but she tries to save others at appropriate times (that’s not giving anything away, is it?). Adam is handsome and stalwart and, I have to say it, a little hapless. I guess he is just so good he is easily put upon by the villains of the piece.
Did I say villains? Meet Ida Rhinegold. She is beautiful in a vampish way, a good girl gone bad? She is in cahoots with Monro, although he has done her dirt in the past. Will he double cross her yet again? Will her evil ways prosper? How many songs do we get to hear her sing? According to the script she “dresses extremely” and sings the old time songs. I can’t wait to see what she ends up looking like.
Comic relief is provided by Mookie Maguggins, the hired man, and by Fleurette, the French maid. I thought all French maids were called Babette, but I’ll take Fleurette, or Flour-tea-tea, as Mookie calls her. Fleurette is employed by the rich dowager Mrs. Asterbilt and her sweet young daughter, Leonie. What secrets might they be hiding, and how do they figure in the machinations of Munro and Ida?
The last character is Little Nell, a sweet darling child, and to tell you more would definitely give away too much plot.
What I really must observe about the play is that it is silly. It is very silly. I guess I’m not surprised at Steven’s choosing to direct it, being as he is, one of the silliest men on the planet (that was a selling point when I decided to marry him). I think it will make for a very amusing first production of the season.
Auditions for Dirty Work at the Crossroads are this Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 5 and 6, at 7 p.m. at Ilion Little Theatre, The Stables, Remington Avenue, Ilion, NY. For more information, go to their website at www.ilionlittletheatre.org or visit their Facebook page.
Mohawk Valley Girl 