Junior Civic Theater spotlights new talents in murder mystery dinner performance

Mar. 7—When the Logansport Junior Civic Theater takes the State Theatre stage this weekend for "Who Poisoned His Meatball?", expect plenty of new faces.

The comedic murder mystery dinner theater experience revolves around the death of Nero Sharpe, played by Cameron Hunnicutt, a smarmy business tycoon who is murdered during dinner at Luigi's. Everyone in the room, including his future ex-wife, is a suspect.

Audiences will be served a spaghetti dinner prior to the Friday and Saturday evening performances.

Many of the young actors who have been in the forefront of local youth theater over the past few years are sitting out this performance, opening the door for newcomers and those who have had limited time in the spotlight to showcase their talent.

Carissa Dawson, a Logansport High School senior, has been a steadfast performer at both the high school and in Junior Civic Theater, often filling out the cast in minor but meaningful roles.

Dawson plays Jewel Murdoch, the deceased's mother-in-law. She described the character as a "crazy old lady who just complains about everything." She delivers her criticisms with the sardonic wit of the late Jessica Walter of "Arrested Development" fame.

Dawson said it was odd to be onstage without her normal castmates.

"I obviously love the cast that I am usually in because it's constructed of a lot of my friends," she said. "But I think this has been very interesting and a completely different take because it's all people I haven't had a chance to perform with and considering I'm (graduating), it's a nice change of speed. I can walk into next year with a little bit of experience with people who aren't usually my castmates."

In the fall, she plans to attend Ball State and study either journalism education or English education while minoring in theater.

She started acting in eighth grade, later than many of her classmates, and immediately fell in love with performing.

Dawson said she has never had a bad roll in a performance, but it's been a challenge because of the talent level of her fellow castmates.

"My senior class is huge and they are all so incredibly talented," she said. "We've all gotten good chances (for a lead role). This is just the first time that I have one of the biggest roles."

Dawson takes great joy in bringing Jewel Murdoch to life and loves to watch her fellow cast members respond to her one-liners on stage.

"The show is easy to follow but you have no idea what's going on," she said. "You are very much immersed. It feels like you are experiencing it with these people. But at the same time, you are like 'oh my gosh. I never saw that coming.'"

Hunnicutt is a familiar face in the background of past performances and, like Dawson, gets to step into the spotlight.

"(The play is) really the first time that some people get a major role," he said. "This is the biggest character I've ever had."

Eva Cook, an eighth-grader at Logansport Junior High, joins the primary cast as Nero's wife, Flora Sharpe. The couple are separated and Sharpe is considering divorce.

Cook began acting in kindergarten. Her favorite performance so far has been playing Pepper in "Annie," a big role for a 9-year-old, she said.

She said she was immediately invested when she first read the "Who Poisoned His Meatball?" script.

"Everyone is super questionable and you don't know who to trust," Cook said. "You have to keep your eye out for little details. It's fun."

Calvin Mackey plays Luigi, who owns the restaurant where the murder mystery takes place. Mackey, a Logansport High School sophomore, had a breakout performance as Old Man Jenkins in the school's production of "The SpongeBob Musical." Now he's centerstage and overwhelmed by the madness happening around him.

"I'm out there trying to make everyone happy but I have some secrets that not everybody knows," he said of his character.

He called the show goofy, saying people looking for a lighthearted night of murder should consider seeing the play.

Erika Sylvester, an Ivy Tech student, pulls everything together as the Sherlock Holmes obsessed chef, Basil Baker.

"You can imagine, when the poisoning of the meatball happens, she gets pretty excited and kind of leads the investigation in a way," Sylvester said.

Sylvester began acting at 14 but said "Who Poisoned His Meatball?" was her favorite performance that she has appeared in.

"Seeing how everyone interacts with each other is a lot of fun," she said. "And seeing how everyone takes their character in different directions is really awesome."

Rounding out the core cast is Lillian Biggs, Cooper Prifogle, Ava Martin and Alex Geisler.