UC Performance Leaves Audience Guessing Until End
Jonathan Monfiletto
Issue date: 3/5/10 Section: Entertainment
"Being invited to the Tomb family may introduce you to some interesting people, but you may not live to talk about it."
That was the message on promotional posters for the spring play, Tomb With a View, put on by the Utica College department of performing and fine arts.
The performance introduced the audience to some interesting people indeed and kept them guessing about who was behind a killing spree.
The play revolves around the Tomb family, and all of the action takes place in the library of the family mansion.
The Tomb children are waiting to learn what kind of inheritance their late father left for each of them when they find out that an outsider - a romance novelist - has been included in the estate.
When it turns out that the outsider has been left a majority of the family fortune, the revelation touches off feelings of resentment among the siblings. Soon, it touches off a succession of murders that will end with the last person standing.
First, the family lawyer, who is then shot and killed by unknown assailant, poisons the outsider. Then, Marcus Tomb, the son who thinks he is Julius Caesar is shot and killed before his the family maid is murdered with a cleaver.
Lucien Tomb, the self-proclaimed head of household, is decapitated before his sisters, Dora and Emily, are suffocated and poisoned, respectively.
Finally, the family nurse reveals that she is behind the murder plot and that she is Marcus' wife so that she could inherit the estate by being the last Tomb descendent.
In a twist of fate, however, Monica Tomb, who was shot, reveals that she did not die and instead shoots and kills the nurse. Now, she and the outsider's assistant are the last ones standing and will take the money.
Usually, one or two actors stand out above the rest for portraying their roles very well. This time around, though, it is hard to pick someone out and easier to just say that the entire cast was excellent in their roles.
Jeff Percacciante was great as Lucien Tomb, the crazy brother who performs wild experiments, while Chris Francisco made a convincing Caeaser as Marcus Tomb. Sarah Elizabeth Crill pulled off the promiscuous, flirtatious Monica Tomb very well.
Kateri Woody and Angelica Pascone humored the crowd as the serious Emily Tomb and the absent-minded Dora Tomb.
Aaron Givens got the plot moving as lawyer Hamilton Penworthy, a role he shared with Lamont Girdy. Emily Koch and Randi Butler kept the plot going as nurse Anne Franklin and maid Agatha Hammond.
Donna Korrie and William Lanfear worked well opposite each other as outsider Freda Montjoy and her assistant, Peregrine Potter.
Even the set crew, Jake Meyers and Taylor Mills, added to the show as they grumbled about having to pick up the "dead bodies" in between scenes.
Overall, it was a job well done by everyone.
That was the message on promotional posters for the spring play, Tomb With a View, put on by the Utica College department of performing and fine arts.
The performance introduced the audience to some interesting people indeed and kept them guessing about who was behind a killing spree.
The play revolves around the Tomb family, and all of the action takes place in the library of the family mansion.
The Tomb children are waiting to learn what kind of inheritance their late father left for each of them when they find out that an outsider - a romance novelist - has been included in the estate.
When it turns out that the outsider has been left a majority of the family fortune, the revelation touches off feelings of resentment among the siblings. Soon, it touches off a succession of murders that will end with the last person standing.
First, the family lawyer, who is then shot and killed by unknown assailant, poisons the outsider. Then, Marcus Tomb, the son who thinks he is Julius Caesar is shot and killed before his the family maid is murdered with a cleaver.
Lucien Tomb, the self-proclaimed head of household, is decapitated before his sisters, Dora and Emily, are suffocated and poisoned, respectively.
Finally, the family nurse reveals that she is behind the murder plot and that she is Marcus' wife so that she could inherit the estate by being the last Tomb descendent.
In a twist of fate, however, Monica Tomb, who was shot, reveals that she did not die and instead shoots and kills the nurse. Now, she and the outsider's assistant are the last ones standing and will take the money.
Usually, one or two actors stand out above the rest for portraying their roles very well. This time around, though, it is hard to pick someone out and easier to just say that the entire cast was excellent in their roles.
Jeff Percacciante was great as Lucien Tomb, the crazy brother who performs wild experiments, while Chris Francisco made a convincing Caeaser as Marcus Tomb. Sarah Elizabeth Crill pulled off the promiscuous, flirtatious Monica Tomb very well.
Kateri Woody and Angelica Pascone humored the crowd as the serious Emily Tomb and the absent-minded Dora Tomb.
Aaron Givens got the plot moving as lawyer Hamilton Penworthy, a role he shared with Lamont Girdy. Emily Koch and Randi Butler kept the plot going as nurse Anne Franklin and maid Agatha Hammond.
Donna Korrie and William Lanfear worked well opposite each other as outsider Freda Montjoy and her assistant, Peregrine Potter.
Even the set crew, Jake Meyers and Taylor Mills, added to the show as they grumbled about having to pick up the "dead bodies" in between scenes.
Overall, it was a job well done by everyone.
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