By STU CLAMPITT
Comedy equals tragedy plus distance. According to Mel Brooks, “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.” Carmel Community Players (CCP) is taking that to heart in their youth production, A Medley of Murders, staging for two weeks from June 10 to 19 at Carmel Friends Church, 651 W. Main St.
CCP Director Tanya Haas chose three one-act plays to combine for her medley featuring a cast of 18 and under rising stars.
“I wanted it to be funny because everything is a little too serious these days, and I wanted the students to have an opportunity to just have fun,” Haas told The Reporter. “I came across these three one-acts that were all comedic and had something to do with death or murder. We decided to put the three one-acts together into a full-length production. It got nicknamed A Medley of Murders and that name just stuck.”
CCP’s medley includes Death of a Dead Guy, Cheating Death and Murder at the Art Show.
Haas said she chose one-act plays primarily as a casting decision.
“I was trying to find a youth show that would have a flexible amount of character depending on how many people tried out because I don’t like to cut young people from auditions,” Haas said. “I want anyone who wants to be in the show to have that opportunity, especially at a young age. They don’t need to learn about the heartache of rejection in theater quite that young.”
Trying to find a full-length production with cast size flexibility proved challenging, so Haas chose one-act plays for her young cast.
“There are 15 kids in the show,” Haas said. “The youngest students are coming into sixth grade this year. The oldest just graduated from high school. Some of the actors are double cast, especially because we only had four young men who decided to do the show and that was the minimum we could get away with. Each of them has two roles – one has three roles. A few of the girls have two roles if they are smaller parts. The rest have one larger role in one of the shows.”
These young actors hale from across Hamilton County and Indianapolis.
“Several of them have previous experience – mostly school plays,” Haas said. “A few have been active in some of the youth theaters. A few others have been in a couple community theater shows. I believe there are only two or three who have never had any on stage experience.”
Auditions were held at the end of April and rehearsals began in early May, so there has been plenty of time to polish these murder mysteries to a stage-worthy shine.
“It is extremely rewarding in my opinion to watch young actors when they are putting on a show because they just have so much joy in what they are doing,” Haas said. “The three shows are all sort of absurd and very funny. I am laughing more at every rehearsal because the kids are finding new ways to bring their character to life. It is just a good two hours of fun. It seems like it’s going to be a serious show, but there is nothing serious about this show whatsoever.”
Go to CarmelPlayers.org or call (317) 815-9387 for tickets. Masks are optional for audience members.
Photos provided