Press release
Who killed Vinnie the Leech? It’s anybody’s guess when The Henderson County Performing Arts Center puts on Death by Chocolate at the Athens Country Club Friday, March 20th.
Nick Noir, private eye, (played by Dr. Mark Roberts) has fallen on hard times. His botched last case has cost him whatever jobs may have come his way. Now he’s at the end of his rope and is forced to fire his devoted secretary Selma (Anita Joblin). That is, until a call from Coco Purvis (Kara Catugal) offers a tantalizing case that just might pay off for Nick.
Coco and her sister, Bonbon (Teri Kirksey), run Precious Perks Coffee Shoppe, which is known for its signature drink, Death by Chocolate. Unfortunately, the name came all too true for a fellow named Vinnie the Leech who died while drinking it one month earlier. Now, business has fallen off and the shop might have to close unless somebody figures out what happened to Vinnie.
Nick is immediately confronted by some pretty strange characters. Bobbie Sue (Fran Bardwell), the waitress, warbles like a country singer who can’t carry a tune in a bucket. Bonbon is a sour, bitter woman who doesn’t like to stir things up. Her “twin” sister, Coco, is the exact opposite, a bubbly, homespun treasure. Henry (Gary McDonald), an old man who wears cross-trainers and hasn’t a wrinkle on his face, sits and watches all the action. Francois (Bob Schoonover), more French than a bottle of Bordeaux, hides behind his newspaper. And who’s the woman dressed in black (Mary McCreary), including a veil that hides her face? A dowdy bag-lady type (Jane Joslin) turns out to be a restaurant critic and a perky twenty-something (Halie Smith) suddenly starts paying attention to the old man. All these characters were sitting in these exact spots the night Vinnie the Leech fell over dead.
Though he fired her, Selma keeps showing up at opportune moments with tidbits of background information that help him piece together the puzzle, though he often gets the pieces in the wrong way. After a second death under the same circumstances as Vinnie’s (which had been caused by poison), and the disappearance of Bobbie Sue, Selma plays a psychic who—with the help of her ever-present Blackberry—reveals some deep secrets.
Armed with motives and opportunity for each suspect, Nick weaves his way through a lot of false deductions, but it all clicks just as a third murder is about to be committed. The motive for the murders? That is the big secret Nick finally reveals to everyone’s amazement.
The audience will be trying to guess who-dunit while enjoying a scrumptious meal at Athens Country Club. The performance is one night only and is part of the HCPAC Annual Spring Event.Tickets are $50.00/person and include dinner and the show. Reservations may be made by calling 903.675.3908 or online at www.hcpac.org.