Rialto Players to present Night Watch on Sept. 20-23
MORRILTON — The Rialto Players will present the suspense thriller Night Watch, by Lucille Fletcher, on Sept. 20-23 at The Rialto Community Arts Center, 215 E. Broadway St. Curtain times are at 7 p.m. Sept. 20-22 and at 2 p.m. Sept. 23.
Fletcher, an American screenwriter who died in 2000, wrote suspenseful radio plays such as The
Hitch-Hiker, which was also an episode of The Twilight Zone TV series. She also wrote the radio play
Sorry, Wrong Number, with Agnes Moorehead voicing a woman who uses a wheelchair who overhears a murder plot on the telephone, realizing too late it is meant for her. A movie version of Night Watch was released in 1973, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey as the lead characters.
“Doing a thriller like this is something a little different for us,” said Desiree Phillips of Morrilton, director and interim president of the Rialto Players Board of Directors.
“To my knowledge, we have never done a psychological thriller like this. We usually do comedies. This is definitely a whodunit. It is an adult show because of language and certain adult situations. It is definitely PG-13,” she said.
“It is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock productions. I chose the play. I pitched it to the board members and ended up directing it. We had talked about doing something by Hitchcock, but his work doesn’t adapt well to the stage. This is close,” she said.
“I’m excited about it,” said Phillips, who was president of the drama club at Springdale High School and active in theatrical productions there. “We did this play when I was a junior at Springdale High School. I was the assistant director.
“We have a wonderful cast [for Night Watch]. I hope the show does well. I am hoping for a good response from the community.”
Phillips is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and
a Bachelor of Science in Education degree. She is a Head Start teacher in Perry.
She has appeared in several productions at the Rialto, most recently The Last Roundup of the Guacamole Queens and Anne of Green Gables. She also directed the 2017 Christmas show, A Place Called Christmas.
“Night Watch is the last production for the season,” Phillips said. “There will not be a Christmas show this year.”
The Night Watch plot revolves around Elaine Wheeler, who thinks she sees not one, but two, dead bodies. The police are called to investigate, find nothing and become skeptical of her calls. Elaine’s husband, John, suggests she may be on the verge of a mental breakdown and calls in a psychiatrist. The plot thickens as others around Elaine add to the suspense.
Cast members include the following:
• Ivy McGrew of Conway appears as Elaine Wheeler.
“I had never heard of this play until I auditioned for it,” said McGrew, who is a graduate of Perryville High School and graduated from Hendrix College in Conway in May. “I have been involved in theater my whole life, but this is the first time I have acted at the Rialto.
“My character, Elaine, is very interesting,” McGrew said. “She has all this nervous energy that just keeps building and building. It’s really kind of exhausting for me; she wears me out. That has been challenging for me.
“I am having a good time here. This is a great group of people to work with.”
• Jesse Burgener of St. Vincent portrays John Wheeler. Burgener, who is a 2011 graduate of Wonderview High School, has appeared in several productions at the Rialto, including two of its murder-mystery dinnertheater shows.
• McKenzie Stell of Conway plays Elaine’s friend, Blanche Cooke. Stell is a 2010 graduate of Morrilton High School and a 2015 graduate of Arkansas State University with a degree in broadcast journalism, specializing in radio and TV. She has appeared in several productions at the Rialto, including one of the murdermystery dinner-theater shows.
• Rich Minick of Russellville plays the nosy neighbor, Curtis Appleby. Minick has appeared in several plays at the Rialto, including The Odd Couple, Rex’s Exes, Dashing Through
the Snow and Harvey. He has appeared in productions with the Encore Theater in Lima, Ohio, and the Cocoa Village Playhouse in Florida. He has worked professionally in television, doing voice work for commercials.
• Ruth Minick of Russellville portrays the German maid, Helga. Along with her husband, Rich, Ruth has appeared in productions at the Encore Theater in Lima, Ohio, and at the Cocoa Village Playhouse in Florida. She has also appeared in several recent Rialto productions, including The Odd Couple, Rex’s Exes, Dashing Through the Snow and Harvey.
• Sebastian Austill of Perry portrays Lieutenant Walker, the lead investigator.
“I graduated from Perryville High school the same time as Ivy did. Then I spent three years in the Air Force,” Austill said.
“I am having a good time with this character,” Austill
said. “My character is very irritated by Elaine. He is irritated about everything she does and says.
“I have been in several plays here and always have a good time. It’s a great group of people.”
• John Nelson of Atkins plays Vanelli, a police officer. This marks Nelson’s debut with the Rialto Players, but he has appeared in community-theater productions in Conway and has done some local film acting.
• Amanda Carroll of Morrilton plays Dr. Tracey Lake, the psychiatrist. Carroll appeared in Anne
of Green Gables as well, and The Last Roundup of the Guacamole Queens, at the Rialto.
• Brandon Williams of Morrilton plays Sam Hoke, manager of a delicatessen. Williams appeared in one of the murder-mystery dinnertheater productions at the Rialto.
Casey Myers of Perryville is the assistant director, A.J. Finley of Hattieville is in charge of the set, and Michael Childress of Morrilton is the set designer.
Tickets for Night Watch are $10 for adults and will be available at the door.