Restaurant plans melodrama to entertain tourists

Cape Girardeau soon will have an original continuing theater production to offer the bus and riverboat tours that stop by during the spring, summer and fall. Titled "The Mighty Mississippi Melodrama or ... Do I Smell a River Rat?," the play was written by Dr. Roseanna Whitlow and will be presented to the travelers at Port Cape's River City Yacht Club.

The assistant professor of communication at Southeast Missouri State University will direct the production, a traditional melodrama set at a favorite fishing spot on banks of the Mississippi and involving pirate loot and stolen elixir recipes. The characters include Villain, Hero, Granny and Saloon Singer. Lots of hissing and booing is to be expected.

Between acts there will be musical entertainment, sing-alongs, pantomimes and jokes.

"We're just going to have a great time," Whitlow says.

Dennis "Doc" Cain, owner of Port Cape Restaurant, and Whitlow have been talking about this idea for five years. "Anything we can add to the mix of things we offer in the city is a plus for the community," Cain said. "This will be a unique entertainment experience."

They hope to have the production ready in a month or 45 days. A marketing campaign aimed at bus tour operators and corporate personnel directors will begin soon.

There are no plans to present to show to the public at this point.

Casting call

Auditions for the roles will be held Feb. 24 and 25 or by appointment at Port Cape Restaurant. For flexibility, more than one person will be cast in each role because the play will be presented during both luncheons and dinners. Performers with special talents, such as music, juggling or magic, are invited to audition. No preparation for the audition is needed.

Angela Bender, new marketing director for the Cape Girardeau Convention & Visitors Bureau, was on the phone earlier this week talking up the production to people who organize tour groups. One group of senior tourists already has been booked to come to Cape Girardeau in July. "They specifically want dinner theater," Bender said.

Statistics on how many tours come to Cape Girardeau each year are not up-to-date, but Bender estimates the number at between 50 and 100, including the riverboat arrivals. Dinner theater is an attraction to a number of them, she said.

"People are interested in that. You think of seniors, but there are a lot of student groups and other groups interested in that type of thing as well, especially high school and college groups. They want to study acting."

For about 85 percent of the groups, Cape Girardeau is a stop on the tour, not a destination. "But that doesn't mean they don't stop and eat in restaurants," Bender said.

Whitlow's husband, Don Greenwood, has designed some of the art to be used to market the production. Seamstress Ruth Winslow is working on costumes, and River City Players technical designer Tim Roth is constructing the set.

Cain said the production will not interfere with River City Players schedule of four plays per year. "It probably gives the actors a little more opportunity to do something," he said.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182