By Sally Deering 

New Yorkâ€s Broadway and Londonâ€s West End resuscitated Noel Cowardâ€s 1941 farce BLITHE SPIRIT, last season, with the iconic Angela Lansbury in the role of the eccentric Madame Arcati.

Jersey Cityâ€s Attic Ensemble follows in those theatrical footsteps as it ushers in its 44^th season with this kooky supernatural stage comedy – just in time for Halloween.

Forty-four years bringing theater to the locals is no small feat and Attic Ensemble keeps the curtain rising even though financially the troupe could use some help filling the coffers. The last few years have been tough-going for the little theater company and there were times the artistic team led by president Billy Mitchell thought the company would be closing its doors for good. But the last two shows attracted large audiences, so the plays go on and hopefully this upswing will lead to a theater angel who may want to adopt the troupe.

“We will be doing a three-show season this year, even though weâ€re going show-to-show,” Mitchell says during a break from BLITHE SPIRIT rehearsals. “Our last two productions, DETECTIVE STORY and CUCKOOâ€S NEST had great audiences, but we need a big angel and three or four little cupids who will help (financially). We do the best we can with limited resources.”

A drawing room comedy, BLITHE SPIRIT centers on the marriage of novelist Charles Condomine and his second wife, Ruth. Curious to see what may develop, Charles invites Madame Arcati, a local eccentric to a dinner party where she holds a séance and conjures up his first wife, Elvira. Craziness ensues, just like that of a screwball comedy.

It features a fine-tuned cast of actors including Ginger Kipps, Hank Morris, Nicole Oâ€Donnell, Don Pflaster, Alexandra Pflaster, Pauline Walsh and William Powers. Director George Seylaz says he was attracted to the farce because of Noel Cowardâ€s witty dialogue.

“While it takes place in the early 1940s, there is very little about the play that feels dated,” Seylaz says. “Itâ€s another of Noel Cowardâ€s frothy drawing room comedies about love and relationships. In BLITHE SPIRIT however, he adds a supernatural twist. I like to think of it as a spectacularly spooky, frivolously frothy cocktail of comedy.”

ATTIC ENSEMBLE, AN ACTORS†THEATER

BLITHE SPIRIT is the 5^th play (Ms.) Hank Morris has done with Attic Ensemble in addition to  THE DETECTIVE STORY, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOâ€S NEST, BLOOD & OIL and DANGEROUS LIASONS. Morris resides in Union City.

“In BLITHE SPIRIT, I play Ruth, the second wife,” Morris says. “Itâ€s really fun because weâ€re doing it as a period comedy, in the style as it was meant to be done.”

Jersey City resident Don Pflaster plays Charles Condomine, the role Rex Harrison played in the 1945 film version. In real life, Pflaster works as a web developer and is married to Alexandra Pflaster who plays Edith, the maid in BLITHE SPIRIT. Don Pflaster says even though the play was written in the 1940s, the laugh lines are still funny.

“It will be interesting to see what the audience laughs at,” Don Pflaster says. “Theyâ€re very much real people in an odd situation. Iâ€m having a lot of fun. Itâ€s difficult, the amount of lines Iâ€ve had to learn, but itâ€s fun.”

Accounting supervisor Bill Powers is an Attic Ensemble newbie who saw the auditions for BLITHE SPIRIT posted online, and says he thought why not try out.

“I live in Clifton, work in Manhattan and I go where the fun is,” Powers says. “Iâ€m having a great time.”

Ginger Kipps plays the delicious role of Madame Arcati, which was revived on Broadway recently by Angela Landsbury who just closed (in June) a 3-month run at the Gielgud Theatre in London. (The great Margaret Rutherford played Madame Arcati in the 1945 film directed by David Lean). The role is a character actressâ€s dream come true because of Madame Arcatiâ€s flamboyant eccentricities.

“Iâ€m just over the moon,” Kipps says about playing the iconic role.

A resident of Jersey City who works in desktop publishing, Kipps says doing plays with the Attic Ensemble keeps her sane. It also satisfies the acting bug sheâ€s had for a long time.

“Iâ€ve been with Attic for 14 years,” Kipps says. “We are a community theater and itâ€s a group thatâ€s been committed to doing good work. Itâ€s a family and itâ€s a lot of fun to come here. I moved to New York to be an actress. I do voiceovers. Iâ€m still trying.”

ONCE UPON A TIME IN JERSEY CITY…

The Attic Ensemble first came together as a group of St. Peterâ€s College students who were members of the schoolâ€s Argos Eyes Dramatic Society and named their theater after the attic space where they held meetings. In 1971, Attic Ensemble began doing workshops, revues and concerts at various venues. A year later, they did their first season of plays, THE LION IN WINTER, THE LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS, and LITTLE MURDERS; and the next year they did their first musical, JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS.

The company roamed around Jersey City, performing where they could until they found a permanent space in 1976, the cozy theater that was part of St. Stephenâ€s Episcopal Church off West Side Avenue in Jersey City. They did 5 shows their first season there: THE SOUND OF MUSIC, TWELFTH NIGHT, A CELEBRATION OF LIFE, THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT, SMELL OF THE CROWD and ALICE IN WONDERLAND. The company played St. Stephenâ€s until 1997 when they performed their last show, the Stephen Sondheim musical COMPANY, and then moved across town to the Barrow Mansion on Wayne Street off Grove.

BLITHE SPIRIT opens on Fri, Oct. 24^th and runs for seven performances. Celebrating its 44^th season, many supporters seem to have their fingers crossed for the company with the hope that an angel will discover there are priceless treasures worth saving in this Attic.

If you go:

Fri 10/24 & Sat 10/25 @ 8; Sun 10/26 @ 3pm

Thurs 10/30 @ 7 pm; Fri 10/31 & Sat 11/1 @ 8; Sun, 11/2 @ 3 pm

BLITHE SPIRIT

at the Attic Ensemble

Barrow Mansion

83 Wayne Street

Jersey City

Tickets:  $22; $20 for students and seniors

For reservations:  (201) 413-9200

Or go to www.atticensemble.org

Charge tickets online at

www.brownpapertickets.com/event/891631

 

The post HALLOWEEN CANDY- ATTIC ENSEMBLE OPENS 44TH SEASON WITH ‘BLITHE SPIRIT’ – NOEL COWARD’S DELICIOUS COMEDY first appeared on River View Observer.

 By Sally Deering

 Ken Keseyâ€s book ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOâ€S NEST was a great book that became an even better stage play when Dale Wasserman adapted it for the theater. Jack Nicholson starred in the movie version and it still resonates decades later. ‘Cuckooâ€s Nest†tells the story of Randle P. McMurphy, a free-spirited hooligan who thinks he outsmarts prison officials by acting a little nuts and getting sent to a mental institution to serve his time instead of prison McMurphy becomes the hero to a ward of misfits and it doesnâ€t take long before he locks horns with the wardâ€s nurse-in-charge, Nurse Ratched, a no-nonsense control freak who runs her patients†lives with an iron fist and a cold, hardened heart.

This terrific stage classic gets a revival this week when the Attic Ensemble presents ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOâ€S NEST for six performances, Fri, Feb. 28 through Sun, Mar. 9, at the Barrow Mansion in Jersey City. The play is directed by George Seylaz and features Sly Augustus, Ryan Bender, Luke M. Blanchard, Ron Leir, Richard Bull, Art Delo, Colin Goodwin, Melissa Harlow, John Lâ€Ecuver, Crystal Schenck, Andre Urban, Ray Velasquez, Catriona Rubenis-Stevens and Brendan Wahlers. (Ms.) Hank Morris plays Nurse Ratched and Benjamin Holmes plays McMurphy.

“McMurphyâ€s personality is completely opposite mine,” Ben Holmes says. “Heâ€s a big and gregarious, confident sort of guy. Iâ€ve always been the quiet one and on the periphery. That sort of informs my playing him. I really have to look at the way I would react to situations heâ€s in and do the complete opposite. Thatâ€s part of the fun playing roles like this. I can be so totally different from who I am.”

Holmes, who resides in Brooklyn and commutes to the theater via the PATH train, has been in several Attic shows including ALL IN THE TIMING and THE PILLOWMAN.

“The people Iâ€ve met at the Attic are great,” Holmes says. “The Attic does a lot of really interesting stuff and you kind of jump at a role like McMurphy. And working with Hank who plays Nurse Ratched is great. She always gives you something to work with and react to and sheâ€s excellent up there.”

Holmes is referring to Hank Morris who was recently seen in the Atticâ€s production of DETECTIVE STORY. Morris, a Union City resident sees ‘Cuckooâ€s Nest†as a story about two people who have very strong agendas that are completely at odds. And even though Nurse Ratched comes off as a pretty tough character, Morris doesnâ€t see her as the bad guy.

“I don’t see Nurse Ratched as mean or at least I don’t anymore,” Morris says. “She gets weaker to me the more time I spend with this play (although don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely channeling my inner battle-axe!!) Deep down Nurse Ratched is crazier and more frightened than anyone on the ward.”

The production is directed by George Seylaz who decided to stage the play in a surreal setting that represents the foggy world the mental patients face every day.

“George is great as director,” Morris says. “Heâ€s got a firm grasp on what he wants and his ideas are really good.”

Attic Ensemble is now in its 43^rd season and this has been a turning point year for the troupe. Unsure of its future, the company presented its first play of the season DETECTIVE STORY thinking it might be the last. (The cost of running a theater group keeps rising and the company relies on ticket sales to pay bills.) When DETECTIVE STORY drew large audiences, Atticâ€s artistic director Art Delo and the company decided to keep the curtain from coming down for good and put on another play this season.

“We didnâ€t have anything lined up and we were kind of kicking around ideas,” Seylaz says. “Art has always wanted to do ‘Cuckooâ€s Nest†so when it came up in discussion, we said letâ€s do it.”

A huge turnout of actors attended auditions. Seylaz says: “From start to finish itâ€s been pure joy. Everybody is so into it and having such a good time. Someone asked me recently, what do you want the audience to take from the play? And I thought of the line McMurphy says: ‘I may have failed but at least I tried.†To me, this is the playâ€s message. Whatever your real goal is, if you donâ€t attempt it you never know. If you try, you might succeed.”

If you go:

Fri and Sat, Feb. 28 and Mar. 1 at 8 pm;

Thurs, Mar. 6 at 7 pm;

Fri and Sat, Mar. 7 and 8 at 8 pm; and,

Sun, Mar. 9 at 3 pm

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOâ€S NEST

The Attic Ensemble

At the Barrow Mansion

83 Wayne Street

Jersey City

www.atticensemble.org

(201) 413-9200

TIX: $20 General Admission

The post WHAT, ME CRAZY? Attic Ensemble Presents Classic ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST first appeared on River View Observer.

  Tucked away in the back of Barrow Mansion, a beautiful old building on Wayne Street in Jersey City, men and women dressed in 1940s costumes roam the rooms like ghosts waiting for their guests to arrive.

And arrive they will as The Attic Ensemble prepares for the first show of its 43^rd season with the 1949 police drama DETECTIVE STORY by Sidney Kingsley. It opens Fri, Nov. 8^th and runs the next couple of weekends. Directed by Atticâ€s Executive Director Billy Mitchell, DETECTIVE STORY features 22 actors who play 34 shady and not-so-shady characters who come through the doors of a New York City police station.

Itâ€s a Sunday evening just five days before the show opens and actors are rehearsing in their costumes – designed  by Yolanda Keahey of Jersey City – while Mitchell keeps things moving, correcting lighting cues and coaching actors in their scenes. The stage is set with old, worn-out  desks and chairs, period typewriters and telephones which ring constantly throughout the play. Think TVs “Barney Miller” only set in the 1940s instead of the ‘70s.

Thereâ€s a certain charm about The Attic Ensemble even though thereâ€s an underlying uncertainty about its future. For the past 42 years Attic has presented contemporary plays and musicals in Jersey City and after 42 years of struggling to make ends meet, the companyâ€s future is as wobbly as a backstage prop table.

“It takes a good number of people to run a theater company,” Mitchell says, taking a short break as the company prepares for a run-through. “None of us takes a salary, we do it because we love it and we feel passionately about it. Last season was tough for us. ROPE  (the play) was up two weeks after Hurricane Sandy, and it affected our attendance. We couldnâ€t do a third show because of a rights issue. We used to have an office in the building but we couldnâ€t afford it this year. Now everything is in someoneâ€s garage. Essentially for the foreseeable future, everything we do will have to be from scratch. This set, what youâ€re looking at cost of $1200.”

BATTLING WINDMILLS, KEEPING ITS MISSION

Attic Ensemble is a non-profit theater company run by a Board of Directors that makes the creative decisions, but in order for the Attic to move forward, Mitchell says the company needs a board of directors made up of financiers who can fundraise and attract community members who can bring money into the company. Financiers like these are called “angels” in show business and theyâ€re usually theater-lovers and/or community leaders who see the importance of having a theater company in their community because it enhances the quality of life. Thatâ€s what Attic Ensembleâ€s mission has been these past 42 years. In essence, its mission is to ‘balance high artistic standards with accessible ticket pricing…and offer theatergoers and theater artists a mutually beneficial environment in which creative craftsmanship may be practiced and appreciated.”

Alberta Thompson is one of the 22 actors in DETECTIVE STORY. In real life, sheâ€s a retired police detective and in her spare time sheâ€s taken acting classes and played roles in films. Although she doesnâ€t get paid, Thompson travels from Staten Island to be in DETECTIVE STORY  and sheâ€s “having a blast.”  She says: “Itâ€s my first show with Attic Ensemble and this is the greatest group of people I have ever met.”

WHEN THE GUN IS GONE, THE SHOW GOES ON

Camaraderie and pulling together for the sake of the show seem to be the sentiments most of the actors, a mix of old-timers and newbies seem to share. Some have been with the company since its early days in the 1970s, like Art Delo, who plays a police lieutenant in DETECTIVE STORY. Delo has had many memorable experiences performing in Attic Ensemble shows like the time an actor took an important prop – a gun – off the stage by mistake and left the rest of the actors on stage to improvise. Somehow they made it through the scene, Delo says, and just like that fast save to cover the loss of the gun, Attic has had several saves to stop the curtain from going down for good.

“This is probably the fourth time Iâ€ve gone through a troubled period where it looked like it was over and yet here we are,” Delo says, during the 10-minute intermission. “It somehow survives. Weâ€re not a professional theater. Weâ€re not the conventional community theater, either. Our core has never been more than 8-10 people and we desperately need people. If you have talent and a vision you can become a major part of what weâ€re doing. Weâ€re not looking for infantry, weâ€re looking for officer-material. Thereâ€s the opportunity to come in and work at the creative executive level. Billyâ€s been here six years and heâ€s the president.”

Like Delo, Ron Leir of Jersey City has also been acting with Attic Ensemble since the 1970s. A reporter with the Jersey Journal for many years, Leir now works part-time for the Kearny Observer and continues to act with Attic whenever he can. His first play with the troupe was YOU CANâ€T TAKE IT WITH YOU.  He also remembers a time when the actors onstage couldnâ€t remember what scene they were doing and somehow got lost in the dialogue.

“One play I remember was about Taichovsky, an original play, and the author was there  in the audience on opening night,” Leir says. “It was the actorâ€s nightmare. We went around in circles trying to find our way. It was one of the most horrific moments I ever had on stage.”

Christina Orzepowski of Bloomfield, who plays newspaper reporter Josie Fenson in DETECTIVE STORY is a retired middle-school teacher and one of the founding members of Attic Ensemble. As Delo says, “she was in the actual attic” back when  a group of actors who were members of Saint Peterâ€s Collegeâ€s dramatics society decided to form their own theater troupe. Orzepowski has been in many Attic productions including RABBIT HOLE, NUNSENSE and STEEL MAGNOLIAS.

 “I love working with them,” Orzepowski says. “Theyâ€re great people. They do interesting things.”

 WHEN 22 LOOKS LIKE 34   

The Attic Ensemble took to the Internet and the fundraising website Indigogo to help raise money to produce DETECTIVE STORY, something the troupe hasnâ€t done before and they received $2,540 in donations. That pays for the production, Mitchell says, and money from the ticket sales will go toward the next production. Since Attic doesnâ€t pay the actors, Mitchel hopes they walk away with something just as valuable – a great experience in the theater.

“All these people have day jobs,” Mitchell says. “Theyâ€re all committed to work and put in the time and they need to enjoy it and get something out of it. I want them to look back and say I would do that again.”

Along with Thompson, Delo, Leir and Orzepowski, the cast features Ryan Bender, Norberto Cancel, Ben Davis, Katherine Doyle, Paul Ellis, Erica Hazel Flory, Andrew Gelles, Phil Haas, Ben Holmes, Paul Kazalski, Ginger Kipps, A.J. Liana, Hank Morris, Jack Pignatello, Vernon Richardson, Bret Sarlouis, Brendan Wahlers, and Amy Rutledge, a Jersey City resident and professional actress who plays several roles.

“Iâ€m very happy to be here,” Rutledge says. “Iâ€ve wanted to get in since I moved to Jersey City. I didnâ€t know there was a problem, but there has to be a way they can pull together. Itâ€s important for the community. Itâ€s an outlet we need to have.”

If you go:

Nov. 8-17; Fri & Sat at 8 pm; Sun at 3 pm

DETECTIVE STORY

The Attic Ensemble

Barrow Mansion

83 Wayne Street

Jersey City

(201) 413-9200

www.atticensemble.org

info@atticensemble.org

Tix: $20 general admission;  $15 seniors & students

 

The post ATTIC TREASURES Jersey City Theater Company Attic Ensemble Raises the Curtain on its 43rd Season first appeared on River View Observer.

 BY SALLY DEERING

 

Culture flourishes in Hudson with art, music and dance performances happening throughout its cities. We also have some terrific live theater groups putting on shows for adults and kids and the new season is now kicking off, like J CITY Theaterâ€s production of APARTMENT 3A. Along with J CITY Theater, the Attic Ensemble in Jersey City is celebrating 43 years as a community theater and the Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken opens its season with a wink to the kids in its production of the Broadway play A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD.

Hereâ€s a closer look at some local theater companies and their upcoming shows. Why not check out a performance or two? Youâ€ll be supporting local theater and those artists who may work in the cultural milieu of New York City and who also nourish the cultural fabric of Hudsonâ€s  community

CRAZY DOES IT ON LIVE TV

Producing Director of the J CITY Theater Clay Cockrell and his wife Sandy Cockrell, who is the companyâ€s Artistic Director are thrilled to be back on the boards after almost a year-long hiatus brought on by Hurricane Sandy. (See our interview with Clay Cockrell following this story.)

This marks J CITY Theaterâ€s 8^th season of presenting popular and contemporary plays on the stage of the theater which is located in the basement of St. Michaelâ€s RC Church facing Hamilton Park in Jersey City. The company recently opened its season with APARTMENT 3A, a romantic comedy about a public television employee who loses her faith in God, men and public broadcasting.  As the heroine takes a ride on the romance rollercoaster, she eventually has an on-camera meltdown during a pledge drive which leads to pandemonium and hilarity. The play runs through Oct. 26 and features Sandy Cockrell, Stephen Hope, Randall Marquez and Clay Cockrell. Stage Manager is Jack Vandewark and Tech Director is Nick Probst; Jacquelyn Bird is choreographer.

J CITY Theater is a not-for-profit professional theater company based in Jersey City.  It is a founding company of the Hudson County Theatre Alliance (www.hudsonall.org) and has produced plays locally since 2006.  Recent productions include Archibald MacLeishâ€s J.B., Douglas Carter Beaneâ€s AS BEES IN HONEY DROWN, and last yearâ€s REGRETS ONLY. J CITY Theaterâ€s mission is ‘to create quality, high energy theater that is told with sophisticated simplicity.â€

 “We are thrilled to be starting our eighth season on a strong note with this rollercoaster production,” Clay Cockrell says. “We are proud to be part of the renaissance of Jersey City.”

 Look for a new holiday tradition at J CITY Theater – the return of the hit comedy TUNA CHRISTMAS. 

  WED-SAT, OCT 11 – 26 AT 8PM; Tix: $20

APARTMENT 3A

J CITY Theater

The Underground Theater at St. Michaels Church – Hamilton Park

252 Ninth Street

Jersey City

www.jcity.org

Tickets can be purchased through www.brownpapertickets.com; www.jcity.org ;

or by calling 800-838-3006

AMPHIBIAN FRIENDS FOREVER

In the childrenâ€s musical A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD by Robert and Willie Reale, two brothers who based their musical on the Frog and Toad childrenâ€s stories by Arnold Lobel, the story focuses on the friendship between Frog and Toad and their adventures with their woodland friends over the course of a year. It was the first-ever professional childrenâ€s show to be produced on Broadway and the production at Mile Square Theater is keeping with the companyâ€s mission to produce contemporary plays and classics.

This leading Northern New Jersey regional theater also teaches theater to children and adults in its vision to promote the performing arts and deepen the regionâ€s culture.

The company has begun its “Support the MST nextstage Capital Campaign!â€â€ to raise $50,000 to upgrade the space and improve seating and lighting equipment. A generous challenge grant from the Mason Family Civic League means each donation will go further to ensure Mile Square Theater reaches its goal.

Sat & Sun, Oct 5-20 at 2 & 5 pm; Sun at 11 & 3 pm

Tix: $22; Children & Seniors $12

A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD

Mile Square Theater

720 Monroe St

Hoboken
(201) 683-7014

www.milesquaretheatre.org

FREE PARKING

 YOU CANâ€T TAKE IT WITH YOU, HAMLET

DeBaun Center for Performing Arts in Hoboken celebrates its 15th Anniversary Season with events posted online in their Theater, Music, Eichorn Recital and Special Events Series. Highlights include Stevens Dramatic Societyâ€s production of YOU CANâ€T TAKE IT WITH YOU by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman in November and THE HAMLET PROJECT in February

 Thurs, Nov. 7 at 9 pm; Fri, Nov 8 at 8 pm; Sat Nov. 9 at 2 and 8 pm

YOU CANâ€T TAKE IT WITH YOU

Presented by the Stevens Dramatic Society, YOU CANâ€T TAKE IT WITH YOU is a Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy about the kooky Sycamore family made up of eccentrics. When Tony Kirby falls in love with Alice Sycamore and brings his parents to dine at the Sycamore home on the wrong evening, craziness ensues and the familyâ€s eccentricities are unveiled.  

 Feb. 7 and 8 at 8 pm

The Hamlet Project
According to the website, hereâ€s what Stevenâ€s Drama Society has to say about THE HAMLET PROJECT: “Who strives to hold the mirror up to nature—to see, and to reveal, the truth of oneself and of others? Who pushes the mirror away? And what are the consequences of both? In this presentation of selected scenes, THE HAMLET PROJECT will delve into the questions of truth and deceit, self-knowledge and blindness, all performed by Stevens students through the words of HAMLET, one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.”  Directed by Dr. Bethany Reeves

 DeBaun Center for Performing Arts

500 Hudson St

Hoboken
(201) 216-5000

www.stevens.edu/debaun

Tickets: General Admission: $5; Stevens Students: $2

Tix also available online

WATCHING THE DETECTIVE

The Attic Ensemble in Jersey City celebrates its 43^rd Season as a community theater troupe and its 17-year residence at the Barrow Manse with a production of THE DETECTIVE STORY by Sidney Kingsley featuring a cast of 22 players. Itâ€s one of the companyâ€s most ambitious productions to date.

 The Attic Ensemble has been playing to Jersey City audiences for 43 years, producing a wide-range of theater experiences for adults and children. They are kicking off this new season with the 1949 drama THE DETECTIVE STORY by Pulitzer-winning playwright Sidney Kingsley and directed by Billy Mitchell, with a cast of actors from Jersey City, Northern New Jersey, New York City, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and beyond. The company is undertaking a funding campaign to produce the show and is offering a range of thank you perks to contributors at every level. For more info, go to their website (www.atticensemble.org).

 Once the goal of $2,500 to produce THE DETECTIVE STORY is met, every additional donation  will benefit the companyâ€s rent, rights & royalties, upkeep of equipment, marketing materials, and upcoming production costs. A small price to pay to keep theater alive and well on Wayne Street.

To donate, go to:

THE ATTIC ENSEMBLE

83 Wayne St

Jersey City

(201) 413-9200

www.atticensemble.org

The post LIVE THEATER -A FROG, DETECTIVE AND HAMLET, TOO! first appeared on River View Observer.