WINONA LAKE - Lakeland Christian Academy's drama department will present "Who's Dying to be a Millionaire" tonight through Saturday.
This is a murder mystery-comedy by Pat Cook. The annual play is part of spirit week and the homecoming festivities.
"Answer this next question and win a million dollars!" bellows Reginald Smarmy, the oily host of the hottest game show in town.
But what can anyone do when a confident and poised contestant responds correctly to a challenging question ... and immediately falls down dead?
The next night, the same thing happens to another contestant. The police say he was electrocuted by the phone wire when he was playing his "Mother, May I?" card and calling his mother for help.
The next contestant, poor Dede McCoy, didn't even get to introduce herself before being stabbed in the back.
After three murders, you have to wonder who would even want to be the next contestant.
With horror happening before everyone's eyes, director Clovis Darnell has her hands full dealing with a police chief who is trying to cancel the show while the studio vice president is aggressively skirmishing to keep it on the air. After all, ratings have never been better. And what about all of the other questions that continue to pop up? Does the fishy phone call threatening to blackmail the show writer have anything to do with this madcap mystery? Why does Sally Dean Riviera, a rival show host, just happen to arrive? And is Denny Perkins, stage manager and armchair detective, capable of solving this crime?
Clever roles galore include the boisterous Mayor Bertha Hoggens, a group of her hilarious star-struck city council members and eccentric Sofie Mondello, who seems to confess to everything. All of these wild characters combine to make one oddball thriller.
Contestants are dropping as fast as the wisecracks in a wild, riotous lampoon of quiz shows, politics and basic human nature. After all, what would you answer if someone asked you, "Are you dying to be a millionaire?"Performances are Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door. Adults are $6, students and senior citizens are $4, and preschoolers are free.
