Everett theater group brings back sleuths for third mystery

Grace Sharp is a retired high school English teacher. Doris Brooks is a retired nurse practitioner.

The close friends travel together, they argue and they always seem to find themselves involved homicidal, but darkly hilarious, situations.

Together they are the primary characters in the Grace and Doris murder mystery comedy series written for community theater by Everett authors Howard Voland and Keith McGregor.

The latest in this series, “Dressing for Murder” premieres Friday night with the Reunion Theatre Group at the Everett Music Hall at the Everett Mall.

McGregor directs “Dressing for Murder,” which follows “Murder Inn” and “Audition for Murder.” The previous plays had successful runs at Reunion Theatre, and “Murder Inn,” with its Halloween theme, was picked up and published by Samuel French, the New York City publisher of plays and musicals. In October 2013, there were more than a dozen productions of the play around the country, plus one in Canada, McGregor said.

“Like all of the murder mysteries, this new one is intended to be engaging and entertaining,” McGregor said. “It’s not high art. The plays are supposed to be fun and nothing more.”

In “Dressing for Murder,” Cara Twigg, Grace’s old friend, invites the ladies for a quiet and seemingly harmless Thanksgiving weekend at her vacation home on a private island in the San Juans, McGregor said.

However, Cara neglects to inform the pair that she has another motive for the invitation. She suspects that someone in her family is killing off other members in an attempt to gain control of the family trust. Cara wants Grace and Doris to figure out who the murderer is.

“The amateur sleuths get themselves into these situations and then people start dying,” McGregor said.

In Everett, all three plays, with women as the main characters, have featured Reunion Theatre veterans Bonnie Ronan as Grace and Janine Snavely as Doris.

“This time around, Bonnie and Janine are helping to shape their characters. Over the past few months, the script has been revised and rewritten,” McGregor said. “It has been fantastic to have actors who are already familiar with the characters. It’s also an amazing gift for us to have a local theater willing to take a chance on a new script and include it in their season based on an early draft of the play, a draft that definitely needed work.”

The rest of the cast also does a great job with the play, McGregor said.

It includes Vicki Linn Maxey, David Perssons, Jennifer Price, Monica Chilton, Bruce Lanning, Jeff Christensen, BriAnne Green, Tucker Boggio and Mackenzie Furash.

McGregor, who has written other plays, is originally from Mississippi. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Rice University and his master of fine arts in stage direction from the University of Houston.

Voland’s background is in journalism, having been the editor, publisher and owner of the Monitor newspaper in Monroe, where he grew up. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and his master’s in communications from the University of Washington.

“Howard enjoys murder mysteries, so he does the outline and first drafts of our plays,” McGregor said. “But I have the theater training and so I do the rewrite. Then he does another rewrite.”

“It’s great to have the show up on its feet.”

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.

“Dressing for Murder”

Performances at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, through May 3. Everett Music Hall, 1402 SE Everett Mall Way. Park on the freeway side near Macy’s. Doors open 30 minutes before show time. Tickets are $14 or $11 for students, seniors and military personnel. For reservations, call 425-268-2187. More information is at www.reuniontheatregroup.org.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.