TICKETS GO ON SALE
AUG. 20th, 2018
The audience, surrounded by vintage wedding dresses and groom's attire from the 1890s to the1960s, part of the 'I DO' exhibit, thought they had come to see a live-on-stage Sherlock Holmes radio drama produced by the Petaluma Radio Players at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum. They had no idea that a real wedding was built into the plot...a story that was heard live by Sherlock Holmes fans in more than 30 countries around the world (compliments of Facebook and www.kpca.fm).
The plot line: Holmes gets word that the evil Professor Moriarty is planning on bombing the wedding of Doctor Watson. He is seethingly jealous that Watson is marrying his ex-girlfriend, Josie. When Watson and Josie hear about the plot, they skip town. But Holmes still has to catch Moriarty in the act. That's when (around Act 8) Holmes, intent on catching the evil Professor, turns to the audience and asks, "Is there anyone here willing to get married?" And it's then that Kendra Murray and Ralph Scott (introduced early in the play as 'The American couple touring the British Museum in 1895,' and now adorned in modern-day wedding attire) pop out of two offices upstairs at the museum and state: "Mr. Holmes...we'll do it!" The cast didn't know about the ending until the Dress Rehearsal the night before. For weeks, Producers Murray and Scott kept stalling them with: "The playwright (Vince Stadon in the U.K.) still hasn't worked out the ending." Up until the cast-only disclosure at the Dress Rehearsal, the producers had been handing out alternative (fake) endings to keep the Troupe in the dark. The show, and subsequent Reception, went off without a hitch. Expect a story in 'Modern Bride' any day now.
The museum's exhibit curator, Solange Russek, noted: "Today, you've made history." What better place than a museum? And what better place than Petaluma?
Producers Kendra Murray, Ralph Scott, and Ralph's daughter, Lucy 'LuLu' Grace outside the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum following the the play that was a wedding that was a play. Sept. 16th, 2018