Valley Players schedule play reading for Aug. 31 at Madera Vista Rec Center

Valley Players will host a reading of “A Talent for Murder,” a witty and suspenseful drama murder mystery, Sunday, Aug. 31, at 3 p.m. at the Madera Vista Recreation Center, 440 S. Camino del Portillo.

Refreshments will be served and everyone will get a chance to be a star.

“A Talent for Murder,” by Jerome Chodorov and Norman Panama, is the play chosen by the Valley Players to be presented in November at the West Center as the drama club’s fall production. This play reading opportunity is open to anyone who may want to read the script before formal auditions for the production Sept. 8 and 9 at 6 p.m. at the West Center.

Directed by Roberta Konen and produced by Regina Ford, “A Talent for Murder,” was a Broadway hit in 1981 when the production featured the legendary Claudette Colbert, a multiple award-winning actress and three-time Academy Award nominee for best actress. She received the Academy Award for best actress in a leading role when she starred with Clark Gable in “It Happened One Night,” a screwball comedy (1934) directed by Frank Capra.

Colbert starred in Broadway’s “A Talent for Murder” to rave reviews. The plot surrounds an internationally successful mystery novelist whose relatives wouldn’t mind killing her to get their hands on her art collection. Other characters include a live-in doctor who was once the novelist’s lover and a savvy Indian butler who uses words like “chutzpa.” The badinage between the novelist and the butler and between the novelist and the doctor provides comic delight and relief from the mayhem being planned by the family.

This exciting comic thriller was produced on BBC TV starring Angela Lansbury and Sir Lawrence Olivier. Fans of ‘Murder, She Wrote’ will enjoy “A Talent for Murder,” a merry murder mystery that is perfect for summer stock, dinner theaters and community theaters.

“This is the first time that anyone who might be interested in auditioning for a Valley Players play can get a preview of what an upcoming play is about and what roles are available,” Konen says.

“Plus, it will be great fun to get together and join other Valley Players players in a reading which is open not only to the previously mentioned possible auditioners but to anyone who would like to have a part in what is going on.”

Konen would also like to hear from those who may not wish to perform on stage, but prefer to be behind the scenes.

For any questions, please, call Roberta Konen at 625-8070 or Regina Ford at 547-9740.

rford@gvnews.com