In our New Years Eve special, the Lipstick Project (CT) team of extraordinary actors perform an Inspector Trompe-Loeil mystery! At the jazz supper club “Nothing But Treble”, the Inspector and Mademoiselle Quossont plan to ring in the New Year with a  when the evening’s plans hit a sour note: MURDER!

Click here to listen to the show!

 

 

SHOW NOTES:

The Lipstick Project is an amazing group whose mission is to create and promote artistic opportunities for the women plus community. The artistic director Rachel Schulte founded the group in 2014 and since then they have performed in critically acclaimed and often sold out shows throughout New England, most notably the first officially licensed all-women production of “Cabaret”.

As luck would have it, Marilyn Olsen, who holds the post as Director of Charitable giving and the Licensing for The Lipstick Project, has been a previous guest on a prior Nutmeg Junction episode and we discussed the possibility of working on a collaborative effort where the Lipstick Project group could perform our New Years Eve episode.  Once the characters (Trompe-Loeil and Quosonnt) were agreed upon as the subjects for the episode, “Three Hours to Midnight” was written and Rachel and Marilyn approved the script and set about casting the show. It should be said our cast wanted to join them and Jandi Hanna was afforded the opportunity to work with them.

The cast came prepared and rehearsal was fun and went fast.

 

Marilyn Olsen took on the role of the indomitable Inspector Trompe-Loeil and Rachel Schulte portrayed Mademoiselle Quosonnt. The characters are really fun to write.

Quosonnt being one of the most quick-witted characters I’ve penned. Now in the prior Trompe-Loeil story, Quosonnt had a purposely faux-German mixed in with mid-west American accent as part of an ongoing game of “guess the accent” she has with Trompe-Loeil for she is the world’s greatest actor and this keeps Trompe-Loeil’s skills sharp.. In this story, Schulte plays her with a straight British accent which works two-fold, first it gives the “Masterpiece Theater/BBC” quality to the character and secondly it

Jenny Maso has a history with WAPJ as she had her own show so this episode hopefully marks a triumphant return to the airwaves. Maso took on two roles, as Madelyn Torchwynn and Cassandra Wyce and both characters have a lot going on in the dialogue.

Lauren Gulliver Travers also took on two roles, as JB and as “waitstaff one”. The purpose of Wait staff one in the very opening is just to indicate that a new person switched tables, which a clever listener will infer later on, this is an important clue even though one might hear it as just a piece of ambiance on first listen. The character of “JB” is almost “disreputable” but clearly has a point of view and Travers makes the most out of the dichotomy between the on-stage, off stage persona of the character.

Hilary Webster portrayed two roles as well, that of Jesse Sinclair and that of Detective Brandt, a particular feat as the two parties interact with one another and Sinclair has a heavy emotional content to it.

Jandi Hanna is one of our Nutmeg Junction Original cast members who was fortunate enough to join the Lipstick Project on this episode for the role of Adelaide Treble, the owner of the establishment. What’s interesting is that Hanna was the first actor to portray Inspector Trompe-loeil in an earlier episode and then in the live show. Hanna thought of it like the character of James Bond or Dr. Who where each actor can bring their own interpretation to the role!

The episode is a smashing success and we at Nutmeg Junction look forward to more episodes featuring the Lipstick Project! For more information about the Lipstick Project, find them on Facebook at @lipstickprojectct

CREDITS

THREE HOURS TO MIDNIGHT

Was Episode 35 of Nutmeg Junction and was written by J. Timothy Quirk

The episode was recorded at WAPJ Torrington Community Radio.

CAST:

Marilyn Olsen portrayed Inspector Trompe-Loeil

Rachel Schulte portrayed Mademoiselle Quosonnt and Stella Atwood

Jenny Maso portrayed Madelyn Torchwynn and Cassandra Wyce

Lauren Gulliver Travers portrayed JB and Waitstaff One

Hilary Webster portrayed Jessie Sinclair and Detective Brandt

Jandi Hanna portrayed Adelaide Treble

Music and sound effects courtesy of Youtube royalty free music with some incidental music by Robert C. Fullerton (c)2018