Shooting Star (23 page)

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Authors: Cynthia Riggs

BOOK: Shooting Star
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“Yes, Victoria. Don’t you see? You’ve infused new life into community theater.”
Victoria handed the phone back to Casey who again returned it to the wall cradle. She looked out the window at the view of the village beyond her overgrown meadow, at the church spire, the library, and the store.
Casey waited.
Victoria patted McCavity absently. “I suppose they’ll want
Dracula
next.”
McCavity turned in her lap, faced away from her, lifted a hind leg, and began to clean himself.
A Play in Three Acts Presented by the Island Players
 
FRANKESTEIN UNBOUND
 
 
A stage adaptation
by Victoria Trumbull
of
FRANKENSTEIN,
Or,
THE MODERN PROMETHEUS
by Mary Shelley
 
 
Cast members in order of their appearance
 
ROBERT WALTON, THE ARCTIC EXPLORER … . … . … . … . … ...
Bob Scott
VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, THE MONSTER’S CREATOR … . … ...
Dearborn Hill
THE MONSTER … ..
Howland Atherton
HENRY CLERVAL, VICTOR’S BOYHOOD FRIEND … .
.Bruce Duncan
MONSIEUR DE LACEY, THE MONSTER’S ADOPTED FATHER … ..
Gerard Cohen
FELIX DE LACEY, M. DE LACEY’S SON … ..
Jeff Brown
AGATHA DE LACEY, M. DE LACEY’S DAUGHTER … ..
Toni Ferreira
,
SAFIE, M. DE LACEY’S ADOPTED DAUGHTER … ..
TBA
ELIZABETH LAVENZA, VICTOR’S BRIDE … ..
Dawn Haines
ALPHONSE FRANKENSTEIN, VICTOR’S FATHER … ..
TBA
WILLIAM FRANKENSTEIN,
VICTOR’S FIVE-YEAR-OLD BROTHER … ..
Teddy Vanderhoop
JUSTINE MORITZ, THE FRANKENSTEINS’ HOUSEKEEPER … ..
Peg Storm
 
 
Understudies
 
VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN … ..
Billy Amaral
THE MONSTER … ..
Roderick Hill
ELIZABETH LAVENZA … ..
TBA
 
 
Ruth Byron,
Founder of the Island Players
Dearborn Hill,
Artistic Director
Victoria Trumbull (or at least I, her amanuensis) has now completed the Tisbury Citizen Police Academy and has a certificate proving it. Many thanks to former Tisbury Police Chief Theodore (Ted) Saunier, who not only taught the rigorous and informative course, but who vetted my manuscript to make sure Victoria was using the right terminology and following correct procedures, and that the characters were handling guns properly.
As always, Jonathan Revere provided much of the inspiration behind the story, including the true account of his picking up hitchhikers at midnight while still in costume.
Dawn Haines is a real person, transmogrified into a snippy teenage actress, which she’s not. At a fund-raiser for Vermont College’s MFA scholarship program, Dawn won the grand opportunity of having her name immortalized along with Victoria’s in addition to a weekend at the Cleaveland House bed-and-breakfast.
Thanks to the members of my two writers’ groups, especially Jacqueline Sexton, Jeanne Hewett, and Shirley W. Mayhew, who insisted, despite my protests, that I change the names I’d started with. I did, and they were right. But all the following members worked to make the book better, including Rev. Bonna Whitten-Stovall (Southern Baptist), Rev. Judy Campbell (Unitarian-Universalist), Rev. Mary Jane O’Conner-Ropp (Methodist), and Rabbi Carla Theodore, all of whom made sure I wrote a straight line. And to writers Wendy Hathaway, Carolyn O’Daly, Ernie Weiss, Nelson W. Potter, Ethel Sherman, Charles Blank, Sally
Williams, Barbara and Jack Moment, Barbara Linton (who attended the police academy with me, including a field trip one sleeting February night when she was on crutches), Gerry Jackman Dean, Ann Hammond, and others who’ve made suggestions that I listened to.
Thanks to Alvida and Ralph Jones and to Ann and Bill Fielder, who’ve gone over every one of my manuscripts.
A special thanks to Arlene Silva, who triggered this outpouring of words. She must feel like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, unable to stop the flow.
A final thanks to Islanders, West Tisbury villagers in particular, for providing me with characters and ideas—none based on actual people and events, of course. Someone once claimed that I’m killing off everyone on the Island I’m mad at, but that’s simply not true.
Indian Pipes
The Paperwhite Narcissus
Jack in the Pulpit
The Cemetery Yew
The Cranefly Orchid Murders
Deadly Nightshade
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
 
 
SHOOTING STAR. Copyright © 2007 by Cynthia Riggs. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
 
 
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
 
 
eISBN 9781466819641
First eBook Edition : April 2012
 
 
First Edition: May 2007

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