Wrinkles of Washington! - Fall 1997 Production

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Wrinkles:
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How The West Was Wrinkled

WOW Fall 1997 Production

The scene is Deadwood, Montana. Ma has croaked and left the town saloon to her daughter, Kate Kandew (Mary Petzold). But the joint’s mortgaged to the hilt. Up steps Vaude de Villain (betcha can’t guess who played that part). He volunteers to bail her out, but there’s a hitch - a real hitch - this innocent young maiden must get hitched to him. Horrors! Boo and hiss! This has all the makings of major melodrama.

Well, with a bunch of characters like Sir Gilbert Sullivan (Leonard Vickerstaff), Trixie Tenshot (Chris Brewis-Roberts), Madam Belle (Julia Taylor), Chelsea Chesty (Joan Forst), Fred Fetlock (Bill Dergan), Madam LaTush (Joanie Roper), Beulah Broadax (Mary Patnode), Fanny Fargo (Jeanne Vosburgh), and Judge Will and wife Mae Cheetham (Bob Freested and Marigem Emde), Kate is not lacking advice, good and bad. Fortunately for Kate, and sadly for de Villain, there is a white-hat in this show in the person of Dr. Bob Williams. This was his first appearance in a Wrinkles Of Washington! production, but with his captivating charm (Kate was captivated, anyway) one might reasonably expect she is not to be his last conquest on the stage of the WCPA.


Once again the set work was outstanding, contributing to a frolicsome show that so typifies WOW Productions. It’s June 31, 1909, and to the tune of "Wells Fargo Wagon", class and villainy arrive simultaneously in the wild, wild, west. Madame LaTush (Joanie Roper) and her entourage from the Folies Bergere have arrived to lend a little culture to Deadwood. She remembers the "Last Time I Saw Paris", and "C’est Si Bon." The dancers do a Can Can (shocking!!!), but then join the uncultured locals in a multitude of dances, including a lovely and charming ditty called "Wait for the Wagon", and a remarkable tap routine that is called like a square dance. With a chorus all dressed in "Buttons and Bows", and with Joan Forst "Doin’ a’what Comes Natcherly", Kate and her beau discover at long last that "Falling in Love is Wonderful", and De Villain is foiled again. Wrinkles Of Washington! productions are renowned for humorous scenes. This show is blessed with two of the best. The first is Jeannie Vosburgh and the dancing horse, which, after all, only wanted to do a number, too. Jeannie claims that "Anything You" (the horse) "Can Do, I Can Do Better", a claim disputed by the horse in a most amusing song and dance routine. It’s true that de Villain is foiled, but not for long. In WOW shows, even villains are not lost. Yep, you guessed it. De Villain is none other than Vaude deVille, who learns to sing, dance, and love in an absolutely marvelous scene with Beulah Broadax (Mary Patnode) as they croon "Love Me Tender." If there are two more expressive faces on this earth, one would be hard pressed to find them. WOW shows are a veritable universe of comic sketches. This surely stands out as one of the most delightful. You may "click" on the photos to see a larger one.











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