Pleasant suspense in time for Halloween

By Melanie M. SidwellThe Daily Times-CallLONGMONT — This month, get your fright right with the California Actors Theatre’s production of “Postmortem” by Ken Ludwig, an old-fashioned chill-inducing thriller.The second production for CAT in its new location inside Twin Peaks Mall, “Postmortem” is set in April 1922 as members of a Broadway cast arrive at a castle ready for a weekend of rest, relaxation and revelry.The cast of William Gillette’s latest Broadway revival of “Sherlock Holmes” could use the break. After all, it is the one-year anniversary of the alleged suicide of one of their own, in the very castle they visit.The play has all the ingredients of a proper murder mystery: rumors of jealousy and revenge, accusations of murder, even a seance ... it’s enough to rattle the bats in the belfry.The cast slowly gelled, but gelled nonetheless, into a fairly tight performance Friday night.Director Robert Bubon portrays Gillette, a charismatic Broadway performer hellbent on revealing a murderer in their midst. Just as Gillette does, Bubon owns the room, whether he’s giving backhanded compliments or schmoozing his way out of eating a bullet.Kim Bubon brings a deep sense of loss and possible threat to her role as Louise, an actor-turned-medium who lost her mind after the death of her best friend and Gillette’s sweetheart. The two conspire from the start to find out who shot their beloved Maude.Other notable performances include Marian Bennett as Lilly, a matronly, warm woman forever tossing in her two cents; Paul Chilson as Bobby, an immature actor with foot-in-mouth disease; and his shrill, suspicious girlfriend May, played by Debe Hultgren.And if this wasn’t enough tension, an uncomfortable dose of marital strife is thrown in by Jennifer Scheidies portraying Marion, Gillette’s disapproving sister, who is married to gruff yet browbeaten Leo, portrayed by Tom Priestley.“Postmortem” is a pleasantly suspenseful production just in time for the Halloween.And bring a fellow conspiracy theorist along, so you can share ideas about “whodunit?” and cling to each other as each new plot twist startles you.