UWP's Heartland Festival begins season with evening of mystery, food and fun

PLATTEVILLE - The Heartland Festival, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Center for the Arts, will kick off its 2009 season with "And The Killer Is ..." a murder mystery, dinner theater production.

"And The Killer Is ..." comes from the same writing team as last year's production, "Wake Me When I'm Dead." It is described as an audaciously funny "Awards Show" murder mystery. This time, the action is set at an award show for actors who have bit parts (very little speaking parts) in movies. It's not the Oscars, the Emmy's or the SAG Awards; these actors have never been heard of but are dying to be discovered.

The performance centers around an award show produced by the Bit-players and Extras Academy. The actors in the academy must make their mark in a few brief seconds on the screen without the benefit of dialogue. They would practically kill to have their names on the card in that envelope.

The cast for this show includes: Kelsey Klug, Ben Barlow, James Hansen, Joe Klinebriel, Abby Schultz, Sean Hanson and Jillian Kates.

Dinner will be served during the performance, with a menu of award-winning cream of carrot soup, V.I.P. mesclun green salad with honey dijon vinaigrette, two-bit chicken oscar (chicken breast with crab meat), rice pilaf, killer focaccia bread and a red-carpet gallery of desserts that include strawberry devonshire tart, chocolate peanut butter bon-bons and carrot cake cupcakes.

The first performance is June 12 with performances following on June 13, 20 and 27, July 3, 14, 18, 24, 26 and 30 and Aug. 1, 6 and 8. All performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Center for the Arts on the UWP campus. Ticket prices include dinner and are $27 for adults and $17 for individuals under 18 or UWP students with a current ID. Tickets are available through the University Box Office, located on the ground floor of Ullsvik Hall, or at (608) 342-1298 or www.uwplatt.edu/arts/cfa/information/office.html.