Dinner Theatre Comes to Town

Dinner Theatre is returning to Chinook! Montana Actors’ Theatre (MAT) will be presenting Charlie’s Aunt at the Eagles Club on both April 22 and 23 from 6:00-10:00 p.m.

Updated for a modern audience, Charlie’s Aunt, written by Martin Holt but based on the original play by Brandon Thomas, is a comedic farce. In this version, which will be directed by Casey Pratt, Charlie and Jack love Amy and Kitty. When Amy is scheduled to go away, Charlie thinks he may miss his opportunity to ask for her hand. While he wrestles with this dilemma, he discovers that his aunt, a Brazilian woman he hardly knows, is coming for lunch. Perhaps the aunt can chaperone while the boys ask the girls to marry them?

Naturally, things don’t go as planned. Donna Lucia, the aunt, is late, and their friend, Lord Fancourt Babberley (Babbs) arrives in drag. After being convinced to pretend to be Donna Lucia, a wild afternoon of mistaken identity, young love, old love, angry uncles, and one beautiful, exotic aunt ensues. In the end, just as it looks like Uncle Stephen is going to ruin everything, the real Donna Lucia steps in and graciously puts a stop to the madness. All the lovers end up together and happy, except for Uncle Stephen, who was starting to fall for Babbs!

The cast for this show includes Aylan Pratt as Jack Chesney, Bill Dolph as

Charlie Wykeham, Derek Hann as Fancourt Babberly, and Carsyn Vogel as Amy Spettigue. In other roles, Makena Silvey will play Kitty Verdun, while Mike Zook will take on that of Sir Francis and Paige Olmstead will become Ela Salvador. Chinook’s own Ben Hall will star as Stephen Spettigue, Bonnie Ortner will shine as Donna Lucia Salvador, and Jay Pyette assumes the role of Brassett. Stage Manager is Angela Murri.

The Dinner Theatre meal will be prepared by Ashley Liddle and a crew of assistants. She reported that theater-goers will dine on Creamy Tuscan Chicken served over noodles and accompanied by a Caesar salad, with hot fudge brownies for dessert.

Tickets, which will include dinner and the show, are available online at mtactors.com.