Roxy presents ‘Murder in the Magnolias’

One of the things I enjoy most about being involved with the historic Roxy Theatre is watching local people come together to create something fun for the community. That’s one of the reasons I’m excited about “Murder in the Magnolias,” a Southern comedy filled with eccentric characters, mystery and complete chaos.

Playwright Tim Kelly of Marietta, Georgia, wrote the comedy, and Matt and Laura McDuffa direct the production.

The play centers on the eccentric Chickenwing family, which gathers at a decaying Southern mansion after the death of wealthy patriarch Colonel Ranch Chickenwing, who leaves behind the secret of a buried treasure.

As rehearsals have continued, I have enjoyed watching the cast bring these outrageous characters to life.

Audiences will meet Bubba Kamrowski, who juggles bowling balls in a luncheonette, and the delicate Blanche DuBlank, whose fiancé drowned in the quarry behind the Veronica Lake Casino.

They also will meet Thornbird Chickenwing III, a flaky poet whose personality seems fractured in every direction; the cartoonish Lawyer Possum, whose only paying client is an alligator; Princess Lotta Kargo, who claims she is the colonel’s wife; and Amanda Chickenwing, who attempts to sell subscriptions to the “Tudball Tattler.”

Soon, another death rocks Belle Acres, and Sheriff Billy Jerk must solve the mystery.

Along the way, audiences encounter murderous honeysuckle vines, yapping hound dogs, a voodoo woman, a menacing hurricane, a suspicious state engineer, and a series of devastatingly hilarious monologues in this off-the-wall spoof of classic Southern literature and theater.

The cast includes Jonathan Grimes as Colonel Ranch Chickenwing; Amanda Mouser as Amanda Chickenwing; Danielle Wolk as Jezebel; Sophie Rea as voodoo woman; Eli Mouser as Pete Bogg; Jonah Walker as Thornbird Chickenwing III; Isac Hill as Bubba Kamrowski; Delilah Landers as Lorraine Carruthers; Douglas N. Green as Lawyer Possum; Hillary M. Hall as Princess Lotta Kargo; Leigh Wilcox Mayer as Sheriff Billy Jerk; and Maddie Mouser as Blanche DuBlank.

Performances will take place Friday, June 12 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, June 13 at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, June 14 at 2 p.m. at the Roxy Theatre in downtown Russellville.

Tickets are $10 plus fees and are available at http://itickets.com or at the door. Children ages 4 and under may attend free if they do not occupy a seat.