{"id":16316,"date":"2015-02-11T17:56:29","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T01:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=16316"},"modified":"2015-02-12T18:47:23","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T02:47:23","slug":"the-bat-elaborately-staged-at-ntc-by-clay-david-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/the-bat-elaborately-staged-at-ntc-by-clay-david-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bat – Elaborately staged at NTC by Clay David"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE BAT
\n<\/strong>Elaborately staged at NTC by Clay David<\/p>\n

Novato Theater Company is currently presenting The Bat<\/em> by Mary Roberts Rinehart<\/strong> and Avery Hopwood<\/strong> from February 8 through March 1, 2015. \u00a0It is directed by award-winning Director Clay David<\/strong> and produced by Sandi Rubay<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Bat<\/em> is a murder-mystery-thriller, originally set in 1927, but for this production it is 1954.<\/p>\n

When wealthy Cornelia Von Gorder (Leslie Klor<\/strong>), along with her ditsy secretary Lizzy (Marilyn Hughes<\/strong>), rents an isolated mansion called Cedar Crest, having belonged to the Fleming family, she finds herself terrorized by mysterious circumstances.\u00a0 Lizzy is sure it\u2019s a ghost or the criminal \u201cThe Bat,\u201d and the house mistress Willa (Siobhan O\u2019Brien<\/strong>) agrees with them.<\/p>\n

The audience and houseful of suspects (who all have reasons to lie), soon learn that only Jack Brooks (played by Director Clay David on the spot) is suspected of stealing money in the house and being secretly engaged to Dale (Arden Kilzer<\/strong>), Cornelia\u2019s niece. \u00a0Then there is discovered the body of Ashley Fleming (Alison Sacha-Ross<\/strong>), the founder and owner of the bank and Cedar Crest. \u00a0Ashley had presumably been declared dead by Dr. Wells (Michael Walraven<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Everyone, including Fleming\u2019s friend Reginald Beresford (Sumi Narendran<\/strong>) is trying to find the secret room where Cornelia is sure the stolen money is hidden. \u00a0Detective Anderson (John Conway<\/strong>) seems determined to disregard Cornelia\u2019s amateur instincts and put down poor Lizzy.\u00a0 Red herrings and wrong turns abound \u2013 though if you look for the not-so-obvious, you\u2019ll have the answer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Director Clay David was able to generate great acting performances from his talented cast. \u00a0This should certainly be a feather in his cap. \u00a0NTC is so lucky to have engaged such a talented Director.<\/p>\n

The Set Designer, Michael Walraven<\/strong>, did a fabulous job of recreating the time-period, as did the Costume Designers Paula Aiello<\/strong> and Clay David<\/strong>.\u00a0 Bruce Vieira<\/strong>\u2019s Sound Design enhanced the performance, as did Ellen Brooks<\/strong>\u2019 Lighting Design. \u00a0Adrianne Goff<\/strong> managed the stage.<\/p>\n

Performances are at the NTC Playhouse, 5420 Nave Drive, Suite C, Novato, and are held Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through March 1st<\/sup>. \u00a0For tickets, call 415-883-4498<\/strong> or go online at www.novatotheatercompany.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coming up next at NTC will be Fiddler on the Roof<\/em><\/strong>, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, from March 26 through April 26, 2015.<\/p>\n

Flora Lynn Isaacson<\/p>\n

Photo by Wendell H. Wilson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE BAT Elaborately staged at NTC by Clay David Novato Theater Company is currently presenting The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood from February 8 through March 1,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-flora-lynn-isaacson"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"