The Friday 5: BASKERVILLE's Cantrell and Williams

Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre brings Ken Ludwig's riotous adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The House of the Baskervilles - aptly entitled Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes - to life beginning Thursday, March 31, featuring a stellar cast of performers, including Brett Cantrell, Nick Fair, Evan Taylor Williams, Curtis Reed and Jenny Norris-Light, performing under the direction of GDT artistic director Greg Frey.

Today, in a preview of what's to come on the Scottish moors (where mayhem and hijinks reportedly ensue), Brett Cantrell and Evan Taylor Williams take their places in The Friday 5 spotlight, giving us some insight into their theatrical lives and sharing why they think Baskerville is a perfect show for you. But, be forewarned: the altogether too-brief run is close to selling out, so securing your reservations for the rollicking mystery should be at the top of your "to-do" list.

May we suggest: buy tickets (details follow the two actors' interviews) to Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes now - then read The Friday 5 (on Wednesday) to ensure you're on top of things...it's all elementary.

Brett Cantrell (Sherlock Holmes)

What was your first exposure to live theater In elementary school, we took a field trip to see a production of Oliver Twist and afterwards one of the guys in the show taught us how to do a fake slap and we all practiced on each other on the bus until the teachers yelled at us to stop

What's your favorite pre-show ritual? Asking why the wine bottles can't be filled with real wine.

What's your favorite, most memorable, example of "the show must go on"? In Arsenic and Old Lace at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, I ran down the stairs and tripped and flew across the stage and hit so hard, it made the loudest smack and messed my knee up. After the show this older lady in the crowd said my fall looked so real and she loved it and I took the compliment like the needy actor I am

What's your dream role? Sherlock Holmes, so come to the show and see me live my dreams

Who's your theatrical crush? Nathan Lane.

Extra-special Bonus Question: Why should people come see Baskerville at the Gaslight Dinner Theatre in Dickson?? It's true to the original Sherlock character and story, but blended perfectly with an updated sense of humor. It truly has something for everyone. Greg [Frey] is a great director and has assembled a tremendous cast, especially Jenny [Norris-Light] and Curtis [Reed] who are complete perfection in this show.

Evan Taylor Williams (Sir Henry Baskerville)

What was your first exposure to live theater? First live play I saw that I remember seeing and being heavily captivated and/or influenced by was a production of The Taming of the Shrew as performed by NSF when I was in the fifth grade I think.

What's your favorite pre-show ritual? Ridiculous but helpful tongue twisters like "I am a mother pheasant plucker..."

What's been your most memorable example of "the show must go on..."? I have actually fallen onstage chin-first and busted it open during a dance number in a production of Footloose. After the stage manager bandaged my chin I finished my character's last scene with a bandage on my chin before being driven to the hospital to receive stitches after the show. It was wild.

What is your dream role? Too many to name, but a random three off the top of my head: Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, Hamlet in Hamlet, and Biff in Death of Salesman.

Who's your theatrical crush? Tie between Idina Menzel and Laura Bell Bundy

Extra-special Bonus Question: Why should people come see Baskerville at the Gaslight Dinner Theatre in Dickson? See what 25 costume changes look like! Witty humor with some goofy slapstick peppered in! It's an interesting re-imagining of the Hound of Baskervilles story. With all the depressing crap in the world happening in the world right now who doesn't want to laugh a little bit?

About the show: The regional premiere of Ken Ludwig's comedic take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of The Baskerville - Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery - continues the 16th anniversary season of Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre as the company's 74th show debuts March 31, running through April 9.

Baskerville opened January 16, 2015, at Arena Stage's Kreeger Theatre in Washington D.C, subsequently moving on to the McCarter Theatre Center's Matthews Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey on March 13, 2015. Ludwig (Lend Me A Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo, Crazy For You) is an internationally-acclaimed playwright whose work has been performed in more than 30 countries in over 20 languages. He has had six shows on Broadway and six in the West End. The two-time Tony Award-winning playwright brings to life Arthur Conan Doyle's classic The Hound of the Baskervilles in this new adaptation.

Ludwig's updated version stretches the genres of comedy and mystery by taking a story that plays out on a large scale - in railway stations, on the Devonshire moors, on London streets and in baronial mansions - and creates it with five actors playing more than 40 roles.

Holmes and Watson make appearances in four novels and fifty-six short stories, and audiences have treasured them for so long because they know them so well, Ludwig maintains: "There is something romantic at the heart of Sherlock Holmes that touches all of us," says Ludwig. "But there is also something dark and dangerous about Holmes, and we admire him for the courage with which he fights his demons."

"Holmes and Watson have been a staple of our culture since the 1890s, but they have recently re-entered our world in a more contemporary, muscular fashion, and this is evident in Ludwig's adaption," says Greg Frey, artistic director of the Gaslight Dinner Theatre. "The setting is still in that time period but we have a more dimensional view of the happenings of the day."

The cast includes Gaslight favorites Jenny Norris Light (I Do! I Do!, Seussical, Oklahoma, The Andrews Brothers, All Shook Up) and Curtis LeMoine-Reed (The Andrews Brothers, A Christmas Story, All Shook Up, A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, Spamalot) along with newcomer Brett Cantrell (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, It's A Wonderful Life, Arsenic and Old Lace, Alone Together, Funny Valentines): Evan Williams (Little Shop of Horrors, Oliver, The Rocky Horror Show, The Spitfire Grill, Reckless) and Nick Fair (All Shook Up, Shrek, The Fantasticks, Into the Woods, A Christmas Carol).

Gaslight Dinner Theatre now features new menu options by The Front Porch of Dickson with master chef Jamie Protich, and luncheon and dinner buffets begin one hour before show time. Ticket price includes buffet, desserts, beverage and show. Gratuity not included.

Performances of Baskerville will include Thursday and Friday matinees at 12 noon with show at 1 p.m. and Friday and Saturday evening performance begin with dinner at 6:30 p.m. and show at 7:30 p.m. Advance reservations are required. Tickets range from $18 to $40. For reservations, call the box office (Monday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m.; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) at (615) 740-5600 or go online at www.gaslightdinnertheatre.org. The show's running time is approximately 90 minutes.

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