Mr. Mallard's Magical Menagerie & The Mystery of the Black Swan
John McFarlane has been arrested for the murder of Jonas Oldacre, owner of the Norwood Theatre, and has sought the help of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to prove his innocence. Mr. Mallard’s Magical Menagerie is about to premiere on stage with murder, mystery and intrigue lurking in the wings.
The game is afoot this fall as elite premieres it's newest production.
September 7th-15th, 2018
North 4th Theatre, 4904 4th St NW
Meet the cast
The elite Company
Kira Akmajian, McKenna Beck, Kylie Brett, Natalya Conde, Steve Corona, Aly Costales, Tianna Garcia, Isaac Garcia, Ruby Gatt, Melee Harden, Austin Holmes, Alexa Johnson, Sarah Massey, Esther Michnovicz, Nikki Morrison, Theo Morrison, Jordan McMillan, Tim Nguyen, Megan Othling, Chloe Rickerman, Carissa Richey, Coryn Richey, Grace Salazar, Rachel Salazar, Cara Sowers, Isabel Tomingas, Mercedes Tomingas, Tanner Tomingas, Vanessa Trujillo, Allyson Walker, Gabriel Zubiate
The Story
ACT ONE - 221B Baker Street
Scene One - An Interesting Case
Scene Two - John’s Account
Scene Three - Lestrade vs. Holmes
ACT TWO - The Game is Afoot
Scene One - The Story of the Black Swan
Scene Two - The Story of the Black Swan Continued
Scene Three - The Stage Manager
Scene Four - Watson on the Case
Scene Five - Gerald
Scene Six - Comparing Notes
Intermission
ACT THREE - Mr. Mallard’s Magical Menagerie
Scene One - Lestrade, the Victor!
Scene Two - Sights and Delights
Scene Three - Old Roberts the Mind Reader
Scene Four - The Orient
Scene Five - Charmed
Scene Six - The Clues Tell Another Story
Scene Seven - The Opera
Scene Eight - Fire!
Scene Nine - Sherlock Saves the Day
Scene Ten - The Norwood Theatre Restored
The Crew
Written by Cheri Costales (Adapted from an original story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Directed by Cheri Costales
Dramatic Direction and Actor's Coaching by Steve Corona and Cara Sowers
Choreography and Rehearsal Coaching by Esther Michnovicz, Kira Akmajian, Cheri Costales, Alyssa Costales, Vanessa Trujillo, Tara Smartnick
Costumes by Cheri Costales, Linda Downum, Judy Brewster and Erin Morrison
Make Up Design by Alyssa Costales, Tianna Garcia and Kristen Nguyen
Lighting Design by Ben Costales
Sound Design by Matt Ramsey
Production Management by Stephanie Rickerman and Robyn Hardy
Stage Management by Cathy Costales
Backstage Management by Tina Mesa
Box Office by Michelle Brett
Lobby and Reception by Lillian Garcia and Erin Morrison
Ushers by Frank and Mary-Alice Salazar
Photography by Two Brunos Photography (Brandi Bruno and Sara Bruno)
Promotions by Tim Nguyen, Cheri Costales
Videography by Tim Nguyen, William Ernst, Nick Bennet
Thank you to our amazing partners...
From the Director.....
The working title "Mr. Mallard's Magical Menagerie and the Mystery of the Black Swan," has been in my head for several years now. I knew that I wanted to do a Sherlock Holmes mystery but also realized that I needed the right people in place to make it happen. Writing a mystery is a daunting task, so when Steve Corona and Cara Sowers were willing to jump on board and help me out, I figured it was time to work on a new show. For more than six months, we met weekly at the Starbucks in Bernalillo. We were quite the spectacle as we sat for hours, each of us with a computer, reading sections (in character of course), and hashing out ideas (sometimes passionately)! My husband quickly nick-named us "The Finer Things Club", which we proudly adopted as our team name. Working with Steve and Cara was such a blessing to me. Having never co-wrote before, I was worried about how things would work. I couldn't have asked for a better writing team and even better friends. Sometimes our writing would take a backseat for times of just talking and sharing life with each other. Something all three of us needed and appreciated! Thank you, Steve and Cara.
elite shows are never about one person, but about a whole team of passionate, hard working, creative people. From writers, to directors and coaches, to choreographers, costumers, reception folks, to dancers, actors, backstage crew and more...we all work towards one goal: good storytelling! What a great team we have at elite. Thank you, my elite peeps!
Our team hopes you enjoy watching this show as much as we have enjoyed creating it for you.
Thank you for your continued support of elite and our shows.
Cheri Costales has been writing scripts and directing shows for the elite Company for over fifteen years. Her writing mostly consists of derivative work, adapting stories to work for dance theatre (The Picture of Dorian Gray, A Christmas Carol, Dracula, Peter Pan, The Scarlet Letter, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast). Her most recent work has included original scripts: Days of the Dead, The Shoe Room, and elite Kids Theatre Projects: The Problem With Fairies, Benny & the Supersquad, Around the World in 80 Days and How The West Was Really Won.