Previews: DIAL M FOR MURDER at Toledo Repertoire Theatre

This Halloween season The Toledo Repertoire Theatre brings you a thriller to die for.  Dial M for Murder, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the original play by Frederick Knott, will  be presented November 6 through November 15.
The story follows tennis pro Tony Wendice who plots to murder his wife, Margot. When the plan fails, a whole new web of lies and deceit unfolds.
The cast includes Garrett Monasmith (Tony Wendice), Leigh Yenrick (Margot Wendice), Maxine Hadley (Emily Waters), Paul Brown (Lesgate), and Cindy Bilby (Inspector Hubbard).

The production team includes Nancy Wright (Director), Debbie Marinik (Rehearsal Stage Manager), Anita Crane (Production Stage Manager), and Chloe Whiting Stevenson (Fight Coordinator).

No stranger to taking on the classics, director Nancy Wright knew she wanted to direct this production.
“I was excited because I like Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptations of other scripts. I had a chance to read this one and loved it. I happened to see an equity production of it in Williamston, Michigan, just outside Lansing, and they knocked it out of the park. I kept thinking while I was watching it that it would be so much fun. So I submitted it, and I am just so grateful I get to direct it.”
This new adaptation delivers the memorable story with some modern twists.
“Oh, so much that's new! The key thing is that there's still a love triangle, but you've got a woman who has a very attractive, shallow, evil husband who is after her money. However, the love triangle in this version is different. There's another woman, not another man, and the other woman is an American writer who writes thrillers.
“There are a lot of little inside jokes in this thing. She talks about villains and double-crosses, which is what this book is about.”
Wright adds, “There's this added layer of the women's relationship being something they can't be open about. When it comes to the attention of the public during her trial, because she is tried for murder, it comes out that she's in a relationship with a woman. It works against her. But I don't want to say any more about that because, you know, we don't want to give anything away.”

Producing Dial M for Murder brings both verbal and physical challenges. To help navigate those elements, the production brought in additional expertise.
“There's a lot of physical aspects to it, so we brought in a fight coach and an intimacy coach. We brought in Chloe Whiting Stevenson, and she did a great job. The cast had quite a bit of comfort with the intimacy, but the violence was a tricky thing,” Wright explains.
“We had to make sure that it reads well and, of course, make sure no one actually gets hurt.”
Actor Paul Brown (Lesgate) added, “Well, I liked the process, and I felt that I had a lot of input into what I was willing to do and what I might not want to do. So, yeah, it worked really well, and I think it's going to come off well in the show.”
In directing the production, Wright also chose to explore the female experience of the story by casting a woman as Inspector Hubbard.
“We cast the inspector as a woman in the production to boost the feminist edge that it has, and it's really fun. There were women detectives in the 1950s, but they were few and far between. There were women who had risen through the ranks. She (Bilby) does a very effective job playing a woman who is showing that she can do a man's job. It's an exciting aspect of the show.”
Actress Cindy Bilby shares her perspective on taking on the role.
“I play the lead detective. The role in both the old version and this version was written for a man. What Nancy has cleverly done is orchestrate the triumph of women. I think for Hitchcock fans, film noir fans, or whodunit fans, all of the classic elements are still there, but with a twist. It's been freshened up a little bit.”

Actress Emily Waters, who plays Maxine Hadley, also spoke about the show's fresh take on the familiar story.
“This show is pretty iconic for being a thriller, and it was a film by the great Hitchcock. But what I will say is that our show is different from the movie, and I like that. I think it will be really fun for our theater audiences to come and see this interpretation that Jeffrey Hatcher has developed. I think he has given the same story a different heart and soul from what we see in the Hitchcock film.”
Actor Garrett Monasmith adds insight into his character, Tony Wendice.
“There's a certain confidence my character has where I don't know that he knows what he's doing is wrong. He thinks, in his mind, that he's a man and therefore the world is built for him, and he can take whatever he wants. It's a very archaic way of looking at the world. Is it relevant today? It holds some very tragic parallels to what we experience today.”
Actress Leigh Yenrick also discussed the work involved in bringing the characters and the time period to life.
“Most of us have an accent, so we had to get our 1950s British accents across the pond. There are different levels of accents, even when you're using the correct pronunciation.
“Because there is a homosexual relationship on display, you also have to look at the laws and what was going on during that time, how that would affect you, and how it would affect the outcome of anything brought against you. So, yeah, there's a little history involved during that time. We are doing a classic with a twist, and it's going to be so exciting.”
With all the vocal, physical, and emotional work involved, the process has also brought the cast closer together.

“I love my castmates, and we have a tremendous cast for the show,” Garrett States. “It's exciting when you're onstage with people you know you can succeed with. Every single person in this cast takes it very seriously. It's great to work with people like that. Everyone brings a lot of talent to the table.”
 

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