Lyric Stage Boston Presents Ken Ludwig's THE GAME'S AFOOT: HOLMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The holiday season at Lyric Stage sparkles with big laughs, unexpected gasps, and all around festive fun at Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot: Holmes for the Holidays.  Returning from last season’s triumphant audience favorite The Play That Goes Wrong is director Fred Sullivan, Jr.° who has assembled a positively perfect cast of characters that will have audiences guessing until the very end.

It’s a blustery December night in 1936 at the Connecticut mansion of actor William Gillette whose life was recently threatened by a rogue gunshot while he was onstage performing his most celebrated role, Sherlock Holmes. A cavalcade of quirky friends arrive upon his request for a weekend of revelry all with the intent of finding out who pulled the trigger. But when one of Gillette’s glitzy and glamorous guests is stabbed to death, the survivors are trapped inside a fun house of hidden passageways and trick mirrors where any of them could be the killer. From the director that brought you The Play That Goes Wrong, slapstick and hilarity ensues amid the murder and mayhem that will keep you laughing and guessing until the moment the killer is revealed.

Director Fred Sullivan, Jr.° says, “I was researching Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot by reading everything I could on William Gillette. I even spent a Sunday touring his castle he built on the Connecticut River. I had a blast. I deeply love theatre history and the great touring actor-managers and barnstormers of the past. I thought about what pure genius Ken Ludwig showed by not presenting just another Sherlock Holmes mystery but creating a farce about the actor who was the first to play Holmes on stage and screen. What sheer fun to watch William Gillette try to solve his own murder mystery in his own home. And of course he is surrounded by the most hysterical, moody, self-involved, and complex humans imaginable—actors. The comedy is witty, thrilling, silly and stupid and when I described it to a man who was on the Gillette Castle tour with me, he responded loudly, ”THAT’S JUST WHAT WE ALL NEED RIGHT NOW!””

Performances begin Friday, November 10 and run through
Sunday, December 17.

Featuring Remo Airaldi*, Kelby T. Akin*, Dan Garcia, Maureen Keiller*, Pamela Lambert*, Gabrielle McCauley, Peter Mill*, and Sarah Sinclair*. 

Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland**, Lighting Design by John Malinowski, Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl, and Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. 

Remo Airaldi* (Felix Geisel) – Lyric Stage: Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Foxes, My Fair Lady, and Sweeney Todd. Over sixty productions at the American Repertory Theater, including Night of the Iguana, Oliver Twist (also at Theatre for a New Audience and Berkeley Repertory Theatre), and Island of Slaves (IRNE Award—Outstanding Actor). Commonwealth Shakespeare Company: Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, Cymbeline, Richard III, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Twelfth Night. SpeakEasy Stage Company: Shakespeare in Love. Boston Playwrights’ Theater: Exposed. Central Square Theater: Frankenstein, The Hound of the Baskervilles. New Repertory Theatre: The King of Second Avenue. Remo has also been seen at Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, Cirque du Soleil, American Conservatory Theater, and Actors’ Theatre of Louisville. He teaches acting at Harvard University.

Kelby T. Akin* (William Gillette) –  Lyric Stage: The Play That Goes Wrong (Robert), Death of a Salesman (Biff), 33 Variations (Mike), The Understudy (Jake), By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Slasvick/Brad), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Brick). The Gamm Theatre: Hamlet (Laertes), Paul (Nero), Glengarry Glen Ross (Lingk), Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio), Much Ado About Nothing (Don John).  Trinity Rep: Richard III (Ratcliffe), A Christmas Carol (Ghost of Christmas Present), All the King’s Men (Dolph Pillsbury/Hugh Miller).  Commonwealth Shakespeare Company: Cymbeline (Cloten), Our American Hamlet (June Booth/John Sleeper Clark), As You Like It (Charles/William).  Film and Television: Patriots Day, Detroit, Grey Lady, The Heat, We Don’t Belong Here, Crooked Arrows, Castle Rock. Kelby is the winner of an IRNE Award for his work as Biff in Death of a Salesman.

Dan Garcia (Simon Bright) –  Lyric Stage: The Play That Goes Wrong (Jonathan). Moonbox Productions: The House of Ramon Iglesia (Julio Iglesia). The Gamm Theatre: Describe the Night (Feliks), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Philostrate/Cobweb), A Lie Agreed Upon (Townsperson). Boston Theatre Marathon XXV: Tommy and Mary Spell Canajoharie (Tommy). Out Loud Theatre: Tartuffe (Damis/Cleante). Seed and Ivy Theatre: Bedtime Stories (Rudy). Instagram: dan__garcia

Maureen Keiller* (Daria Chase) – Lyric Stage: Into the Woods, 33 Variations, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Speech and Debate, Inspecting Carol. SpeakEasy Stage Company: Fairview, Admissions, Between Riverside and Crazy, The Whale, The Little Dog Laughed, Almost Maine. The Huntington: Come Back, Little Sheba. Greater Boston Stage Company: Clue, The Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Gloucester Stage Company: Think of Me Tuesday. Israeli Stage: Oh God. Boston Playwrights Theatre: The Honey Trap, Save the Whales etc, Faithless. Film and Television: Spotlight, Fever Pitch, Ghost Light, A Show Stopping Christmas, The Makeover, Olive Kitteridge, Brotherhood. Maureen is an Elliot Norton award-winning actor and a three time recipient of the IRNE Award. A warm shout out to those whom I

love and who gives me endless support. Instagram @mokeimi. 

Pamela Lambert* (Madge Geisel) – Lyric Stage: Debut. Trinity Rep: The Piano Lesson (Grace), Skips in the Record (Ruby). Up You Mighty Race: Patience of Nantucket (Patience), 409 Edgecomb Blvd (Gladys). Providence Black Rep: Colored Museum (Miss Pat, Lala, Narrator). Wilbury Group: Passing Strange (Mother). Newport Playhouse: Murder at HoJos (Arlene), Sylvia (Kate). Eventide Theatre: To Kill a Mockingbird (Calpurnia). Harborside Films: Ask|Answer (Lisa). Penumbra: Joe Turner’s Come & Gone (Molly). NYTheatre: The Abingdon & Nuyorican Café: Walter, Bullets & Binoculars (Ruby), John Houseman: Playing One Handed Poker (Patrice). Film/TV: November Criminals, Time & Charges, Knockaround Kids, The Women, PBS/Nova, WB/Make My Day. World concert tour with Herb Reed & The Platters. Much love to her theatre family and very special thanks to Jeff! Instagram @PamelaOnBroadway. Website: PamelaLambert.com.

Gabrielle McCauley (Aggie Wheeler) –  Lyric Stage: Debut. The Gamm Theatre: Describe the Night (Urzula). Burbage Theatre Company: Red Velvet (Halina), Edward II (Edward II), Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (Trisha), School for Lies (Eliante), The Hypochondriac (Angelique), Thinner than Water (Angela), Twelfth Night (Fabian), Venus in Fur (Vanda U/S). The Wilbury Theatre Group: The Humans (Brigid Blake U/S). Gabby is a graduate of Rhode Island College and completed the Summer Training Congress at The American Conservatory Theatre in 2019. She is a resident actor and executive staff member at Burbage Theatre Company. Gabby is thrilled to be here and would like to thank her friends and family for their support! 

Peter Mill* (Inspector Goring) – Lyric Stage: Debut. Moonbox Productions: Torch Song (Arnold Beckoff), The Rocky Horror Show (Dr. Frank-N-Furter), Musical of Musicals: The Musical! (Bill). New Repertory Theater: Hair (Margaret Mead). Reagle Music Theatre: Chicago (Mary Sunshine), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Joseph), Les Misérables (Bamatabois). Peter has been nominated for two Elliot Norton Awards, two IRNE Awards and a BroadwayWorld Award and has won none of them. Graduate of the Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Instagram: @petermill, Website: www.petermill.com.

Sarah Sinclair* (Martha Gillette) – Lyric Stage: Debut. Commonwealth Shakespeare Company: Richard III (Duchess of York). The Gamm: A Lie Agreed Upon (Townsperson). NY Theater Festival: Beans and Rice (Dr. Grace Marsh). Theater Uncorked: Ruthless! The Musical (Myrna Thorne). Epic Theatre Company: Barbecue (Lillie Ann). Barker Playhouse: Romeo & Juliet (Paris).  Headtrick Theatre: Dangerous Liaisons (Mme de Volanges), Gabriel (Settimia, Policeman). Providence Players: Blithe Spirit (Ruth). NYC Showcase: The Man Who Came to Dinner (Lorraine Sheldon). Virtual Production directed by Keri Boisclair: Almost Maine (Hope). Sarah won Best Supporting Actress at the NY Theater Festival, at the Teatro Latea in NYC for originating the role of Dr. Grace Marsh. She wishes to thank her amazing husband Peter, who makes it all possible. 

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
** Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE
° Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

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