FRHS farce

A hero on the run.

A woman with a gun.

And an ending with a twist.

With the first song of act two, the cast presents that brief synopsis of what is to come “Lucky Stiff.”

Fort Recovery High School’s production of the musical farce is this weekend with shows at 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday in the elementary/middle school auditeria.

The show, based on the 1983 novel “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” by Michael Butterworth, revolves around efforts to collect a $6 million inheritance from a recently deceased man. In the mix are the man’s nephew, girlfriend and favorite charity.

As part of that effort, the nephew — shoe salesman Harry Witherspoon, played by Isaac LeFevre — must take his deceased uncle on a final trip to Monte Carlo.

Annabel Glick, a representative from the charity played by Ally Kaiser, follows in hopes that Witherspoon will fail in his effort. And the girlfriend, played by Caitlin Weigel, gives chase in order to retrieve the money she believes is rightfully hers.
Confusion and comedy ensue.

“I think it’s just a lot of fun for the kids,” said Tracy Evers-Westgerdes, who is co-directing the show along with Reid Knuth. “They just have a lot of fun doing a comedy like this.”

The cast brings a mix of experience and youth, with seniors Morgan Litmer, Seth Fullenkamp and Kaiser and junior Caitlin Weigel in major roles along with freshman Isaac LeFevre and seventh grader Caden Marchal. Those last two were vaulted into larger roles — Marchal plays Vinnie DiRuzzio, brother to Weigel’s Rita LaPorta — several weeks into the production process.

“They both really came through,” said Evers-Westgerdes. “They’re doing fantastic. They started working on it over Christmas break … and even though they’re young they’ve taken a good leadership role.”

Another challenge for the actors has been accents. LeFevre’s Witherspoon is British. LaPorta is from New Jersey. Fullenkamp’s Luigi Guadi is Italian. And several characters in the Monte Carlo setting dabble in French.

Knuth has worked with the students on changing their voices, using examples of professional actors on YouTube to help guide them.

“I think we’ve been reasonably successful,” he said.

The show also marks the first time for Evers-Westgerdes and Knuth as a directing team.

Evers-Westgerdes last directed a Fort Recovery show — “Seussical the Musical” — in 2011 with Karen Meiring. Knuth has been involved in four Jay County Civic Theatre shows, most recently serving as musical director for “Frozen Jr.”

“It’s been really neat,” said Evers-Westgerdes. “He has a lot of experience with Jay County Civic Theatre. … And I’ve done five or six musicals here at Fort Recovery. I think we complement each other very well. There are things that he has strengths in that I don’t have strengths in and vice versa.”

The strength of the show, the co-directors agree, is its comedy. There’s a certain “Weekend at Bernie’s” vibe as Witherspoon wheels his dead uncle — Tony Hendon, played by?Caleb Evers — around Monte Carlo with Glick and LaPorta in tow.

“It’s really funny,” said Reid. “I think they’ll enjoy it. The kids have put in lots and lots of hours preparing it.”

“It’s going to be a great show,” added Evers-Westgerdes. “We have a great group of kids. They’ve been working really hard. If you want a great laugh, come out and see us on Sunday.