Tickets for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder available now
By Donna McMillan
IN one month, from April 11 to 27, Lighthouse Festival’s much anticipated 2025 Community Show A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder will hit the stage in Port Dover. This “farcical romp” is in rehearsals with the cast and crew working through the songs and dances.
Derek Ritschel, director of the community performance, described the Tony award-winning storyline as very quirky, musically complex and a lot of fun to unfold on stage.
Essentially, Monty Navarro is eighth in line to an earldom and works his way to the top through trickery and murder, he said. And yet, you can’t help but like him in spite of the fact he is murdering for self-advancement.
Derek shared that the play has an ensemble of 17 actors who have been rehearsing three nights a week since the beginning of January.
The community play continues to be a fundraiser for the not-for-profit theatre, Derek said. Buying a ticket “is a great way to donate to the theatre and get something cool in return.”
For the cast and crew, who all donate their time, it is an opportunity to work with a professional director and choreographer as well as have fun. Fifteen of the ensemble are returning actors while two are new to Lighthouse community plays, he shared.
Heather Reichheld, a retired librarian at the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, is the stage manager. This is her 11th community show since she became involved with The Drowsy Chaperone in 2014. “I enjoy doing it and it is something my husband (also a performer) and I can do together.”
J.P. Antonacci, lead actor, described Heather as the nerve centre of the performance. “She keeps us in line. She has a big voice.” Heather concurred, joking that she likes telling people what to do, keeping the spreadsheets, and keeping track of the large cast.
Adding to the storyline of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, she shared Navarro learned his late mother was disowned by her wealthy family. Very poor, Navarro attempts to get a job with his rich relations. They reject him. Hence his determination to find a way into the family.
“It’s different from the Broadway play,” Heather said, where Broadway used one actor to play all eight characters standing in the way to the Earldom. Eight actors play those eight obstacles in this community production.
A Port Dover resident and Hamilton Spectator journalist, J.P. plays Navarro. This is his sixth community show. As well, he has performed at Simcoe Little Theatre and has conducted haunted walks in Norfolk.
In this play, he shared the audience will see a zany ensemble of characters through his character’s eyes and will have to decide if his protagonist role is evil or just fell into the circumstances.
The community play “is the most fun I have all year round,” J.P. said, adding “and I have a lot of fun,” mentioning that he also performs with the band The Shrubberies. He shared how much he enjoys working with a positive, energetic and good-spirited group. “It fills me up,” he said.
J.P. feels he has become a better actor and gained more confidence every community show he has performed in. “I owe it to Derek and the professional team here,” he said. The audience is going to see a high-quality show, he shared. The music is different with a faster pace.
He said the challenge of his role is singing a lot of words in so many songs while dancing.
Julie Buffett plays Miss Shingle, a “mysterious person” who gives help and sets the protagonist in motion in his quest to gain the Earldom of the wealthy but not very nice, D’Ysquith family.
A social worker, Julie is performing for the first time in a Lighthouse community play but is no stranger to theatre. She has worked both backstage and onstage at theatres in Simcoe, Hamilton, Cambridge, and Tillsonburg and directed Steel Magnolias and Nunsense in Tillsonburg. Julie said she is embracing her role, saying the character is great and eccentric.
Kiana Littlemore, in her last year at Simcoe Composite School, and Chrystal Stephens are looking after costumes and props. A veteran actor in Young Theatre Players, Kiana has performed in Little Shop of Horrors, The Wolves, Mean Girls Junior and more. She is enjoying the new experience of being in charge of costumes. This includes making sure all costumes fit and they are consistent with the time period. She found characters Sibella and Phoebe the most challenging to costume to keep them elegant and period appropriate. She shared costumes have been collected from Simcoe Little Theatre, the Lighthouse Theatre wardrobe and some cast members have brought in their own.
An annual spring tradition, seats sell quickly for the community play. For tickets to the April 11 to 27 performances, contact Lighthouse Theatre by visiting the box office at 247 Main Street, Port Dover, calling 519-583-2221, or online at lighthousetheatre.com.
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Originally published March 12, 2025
