Available tickets have dried up like a puddle in the desert for this Saturday’s performance of Kenaston Dinner Theatre’s “Taming the Wild Wild West in a Dress or Let’s Give the Villain the Slip” by playwright Billy St. John, but anyone looking to enjoy the show still has a good shot at grabbing a seat for Friday’s entertainment.
Melanie Kerpan, co-director with Kathy Enns of “Taming the Wild Wild West in a Dress,” said there are still some full tables open for their March 28 showing and anyone looking for a good catered meal courtesy of Zdunich and Company along with a funny performance of the St. John western is welcome to attend.
“We haven’t done (a western) for a long time,” said Kerpan, noting all funds raised from the annual dinner theatre performances go towards upkeep of Kenaston Place. “We were looking for a theme and something that was humorous. We had this play for a while and had not done it because it was similar to some others that we had done in a row, so we wanted to wait and get a variety.”
“Taming the Wild Wild West in a Dress or Let’s Give the Villain the Slip” centers on the lead character of Clarence Rawlins (played by Andrew Lynsley) and his theater company when they head west to Lucky Lady, Nevada, to inherit a supposed saloon. Unfortunately the saloon is actually a beauty palour and the group now must go to absurd lengths including raiding a costume trunk to make the salon a success. The theatre company’s luck runs out when two crooks played by Ryley Enns and Allison de Hoop decide to acquire Clarence’s salon as part of a scheme to rob the bank next door.
Kerpan said there isn’t a set goal on how much the Dinner Theatre committee hopes to raise with the two-day performance, but going from previous years they usually average around $5,000 each time. She said there would be about 50 volunteers helping make the dinner, which normally attracts around 250 people each performance, a success and that doesn’t include the 25 people involved with the cast and crew.
“We have lots of really good support that we appreciate from Davidson, Outlook and Bladworth (and) other communities as well,” said Kerpan, adding they have been practising to get the play ready for audiences since January. “This is a large cast this time and we have been having difficulty getting everybody together, but we’re doing the best we can and it’ll be ready on that day.”