'Aces are Feverish' premieres Friday at Masquers Theater

SOAP LAKE — The world premiere of a tangled tale of love, betrayal, murder and maple bars will hit the Masquers Theater stage this weekend. The curtain rises on “Aces are Feverish” at 7:30 p.m. Friday; the theater is located at 322 East Main Ave.

It’s the second time Masquers has staged the world premiere of a work by Spokane playwright and journalist (and former Columbia Basin Herald reporter) Matthew Weaver.

Three weekends of performances are scheduled, June 17, 18 and 19 and 24, 25 and 26, and July 1, 2 and 3. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.

“Aces are Feverish” is the story of private detective Ace Valentine (Holly Peterson) and her greatest case. It’s 1940-something, the shady side of town, and a dame is missing. Pretty dame, a singer down at the Shady Rabbit. Misty (Mistya Beyer), that’s her name.

Ace has a cold, as is evident from the floor of her office. She’s had a cold forever, said director Joanne Bracht. “It’s almost like a character in the play.”

“I have always loved when fictional characters catch colds,” Weaver said. “That makes them very human to me.” He submitted his new play to Masquers because he was pleased with the production of his first play.

“They did such a good job with ‘Bed Ride’ which was written just to be written,” he said. He knew what the company could do with a play, he said, and knew they would do something fun. “Let’s see what you do with this.”

Ace is hired by Misty’s husband Derek (Adam Zaleski), who’s “suave, cool, good-looking and debonair,” Bracht said. “Or is he?” He too is a singer at the Shady Rabbit, and popular with the ladies, although not with the club’s owner Freddy Berger (Jeffrey Ames).

There are rumors swirling around the club that Misty had a Thing with somebody – and Freddy sure gets upset when other singers try Misty’s song. Freddy definitely had a Thing with Ace, back in the day. And maybe Ace is getting close to a Thing with Derek. That is, if Ace can avoid another shootout with the girl (Theresa Freeman) who’s still mad because they wore the same dress to prom back in high school.

Then there’s Misty’s sleazy sister and brother-in-law (Darryl Pheasant and Carol Boyce). And the crooked cops, and the scheming singer (Allison Pheasant) trying to take Misty’s place, and Mr. Coffey the doughnut shop owner (Randy Brooks) and Warren (Andrew Covarrubias) who’s just the guy who delivers Ace’s daily maple bar. “But is he?” Bracht asked cryptically.

And who is that girl that only Ace can see?

Bracht said Weaver gave her a lot of room to make her own decisions when it came to staging, and for director and cast it’s been a challenging but fun process.

“Everybody in this play has kicked in,” she said. Peterson created the set decoration for the Shady Rabbit, and Nick Mahaney (who plays crooked Detective Jones) helped build the sets. Heather Rhoades is the assistant director. “Everyone just chipped in wholeheartedly,” Bracht said.

Tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for seniors and students and $7 for children age 11 and younger. Opening night tickets are $10 per person. Tickets can be purchased on the Masquers website, www.masquers.com, or by calling the box office, 509-246-2611.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached at education@columbiabasinherald.com.