NOTE: “Today” refers to Sunday, Sept. 20.
PORT ANGELES — Prepare to gasp, boo, laugh and let go.
The Port Angeles Community Players are at it again, bringing a full-blown melodrama to the stage today and onward into October at the Port Angeles Community Playhouse, 1235 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
“Love Rides the Rails, or Will the Mail Train Run Tonight?,” set in old-time Port Angeles, features a flock of heroic and dastardly folks, all determined to entertain you.
Megan Mundy plays Prudence, our young lady who turns out to be not your run-of-the-mill damsel. Along with her noble fiance Truman (Jonathan Mitchell), she faces the ambitious, appropriately named villain Simon Darkway. Played by Jack Simpson, Darkway wants to expand his Port Angeles & Pacific train line. To do this, he means to take the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad away from Prudence and her mother, the widow Hopewell.
And, shudder, that’s not all he wants. Darkway means to steal Prudence away, too.
“The villain’s laugh gets more sinister all the time,” said Anita Bonham, who portrays the pious Mrs. Hopewell. She and Prudence have reason to fear the guy’s manipulative ways: They would be destitute without the dividends from their stock in the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific.
Who’s playing
Filling out the cast are Steve Berry, Mary Brelsford, Patsy Crawford, Brenda DeChant, John Dixon, Martin Gutowski, William Hads, Peggy Kempf, Makinzie Lang, Damon Little, Phil Morgan-Ellis, Abby Mundy, Fred Robinson and Marissa Wilson. And to underscore the high and low points — of which there are many — we have music director Leroy Davidson, on the melodramatic organ.
Mundy, for her part, is sinking her teeth into her role. It’s the first leading part for the actress, whose previous appearances include Port Angeles High School’s productions of “As You Like It” and “Macbeth.”
Mundy is also a playwright whose family vampire drama “A Mistake” was staged at Port Angeles High in fall 2013, shortly before she graduated in 2014.
When asked whether her latest show might be a little corny, Mundy didn’t hesitate to respond.
“What’s wrong with corny?” she demanded.
This play is “sweet. It’s romantic. It’s hilarious.”
“She’s quite a ham,” quipped Bonham, who added that she and her on-stage daughter have a natural chemistry.
“Love Rides the Rails” aims to transport people, Bonham said.
“Come forget your troubles, and laugh at ours.”
