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« on: March 31, 2003, 07:37:16 PM »
Stumbled across this by accident. Theatre 40 is doing an interactive murder play at Greystone, which was used for the 1991 DS series and a half zillion other films and tv shows.
Servants lead the audience through various rooms of the house as characters emerge to reenact the events leading up to the murder. Below is the review from the LA Times.
Scene of the crime: "The Manor" takes audiences into the very heart of a mystery at Greystone.
By Don Shirley, Times Staff Writer
Seventy-FIVE of us sit on the west side of the elegant, sun-dappled living room at Greystone, a 1928 mansion that's part of a Beverly Hills city park. A white-haired butler in black tie emerges from the hallway and begins intoning the sorrowful story of the famous family that once lived here.
As he speaks, the characters in his saga emerge from the wings, moving like imprisoned spirits before they are temporarily liberated for yet another energetic re-enactment of the events that led up to the sensational murder that took place in this house in 1929.
We're at "The Manor," the Kathrine Bates play inspired by the turbulent story of the Doheny family at Greystone, and the interactive production is unfolding within the mansion's walls. The audience moves from room to room, guided by the servants, to see actors re-enact conversations and events that evoke Greystone's most troubled era.
Names have been changed -- the oil-rich Dohenys replaced by the mining-rich MacAlister clan. But in both the real and the fictional scenarios, the patriarch was caught up in a national scandal involving the leasing of government-owned resources. His son was the courier who delivered a $100,000 cash loan that was later interpreted as a bribe. Later, the son and a friend were found shot to death in the Greystone house, which had been a gift from the father to the son and his young family.
"The Manor" was hatched in a conversation in 2000 between Theatre 40 managing director David Hunt Stafford and Henry Korn, who was the Beverly Hills director of arts and culture. Korn suggested using Greystone for a production about the Dohenys. He was inspired, he says, by the "living history" concept exemplified by Colonial Williamsburg.
Theatre 40 company member Bates did the research and produced a treatment within two weeks. Korn liked it but was laid off before he could pursue it. However, Theatre 40 was using Greystone for readings, and after the 2001 readings series ended, Stafford revived the idea of the play with the Beverly Hills Recreation and Parks Department.
Theatre 40 received a green light for several performances last summer. But they weren't widely publicized, for the city wanted Beverly Hills residents to have the first crack at obtaining tickets. When performances resumed this year, however, reviewers were invited, and they liked what they saw.
Theatre 40 was denied permission to use the Doheny name. But Bates -- who also plays the older Mrs. Doheny -- says her script is "a loving portrayal." Questions linger about exactly what happened when Ned Doheny and his friend Hugh Plunkett died at Greystone. Bates says she has "come up with the most politically safe way of coping with the tragedy."
Bates says she has empathy for the Doheny descendants. Her father, Joaquin Esteves, who was a broadcasting personality in the San Jose area, disappeared in 1988 at the age of 64. Although a man was convicted of his murder, no body was found and there was no confession.
Besides the killing, the script also explores the fictional family's involvement in a scandal like Teapot Dome. "I have an interest in historical figures who were maligned," she says. Her 1998 solo show, "Evil Legacy," tried to vindicate Lucrezia Borgia.
Although Bates says her script avoids tabloid territory, she acknowledged that it does enter "soap opera territory." Bates played Loretta Toscano on "Days of Our Lives."
"This family had the world at its feet," she said. "This great brooding house should have been their home for generations. Instead, they were left with this big cloud over their days of glory."
'The Manor'
Where: Greystone, 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills
When: Sunday, April 5-6, May 3 and 24, June 8, 1 p.m. Probably will be extended. The show runs 2 hours, 55 minutes.
Price: $25
Info: (310) 550-4796
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, the site also has extensive information about David's involvement with LATW and where/how you can purchase cds and/or tapes of some of his performances.
