Contributed by Barbara Courtney

We all need a good old fashioned melodrama with boos and hisses from time to time, and Orcas Islanders love musicals with lots of song and dance. The Dastardly Doctor Devereaux delivers all that and more, featuring several middle school and two high school students. Two performances of this fun production at Orcas Center are offered on Thursday and Friday, May 28 and 29 at 7:30 pm.

Directed by Robert Hall, theatre teaching artist for the Orcas Arts Education Project, the play is about Dogsbreath Devereaux, an evil doctor and his assistant Hilda Hatchet. These two evil-doers, played by played by Nile Reed and Addie Newcombe, cook up a plot to take over the office of a money grubbing doctor, Lotta Cash (Chloe Scott).

Along the way they meet heroine Windy March (Jules Mann) and hero Dr. Phil Good (Cameron Schuh) and their friends Nurse Ivy Dripp (Tamara Klein) and Trixie St. James, a burlesque dancer (Rose Strasen). The talented supporting cast includes Courtney Ray, Jessica Gudgell, Winter Hyatt, Annie Lister, Chris Babcock, Alex Grantham, Lindsey Lancaster, Ernesto Martinez, and twins Elizabeth and Jenna Tully.

Musical direction is provided by Lizz Hanks and Jean Henigson is assisting with the dance numbers.

Admission for The Dastardly Doctor Devereaux is by donation. All proceeds benefit the Orcas Arts Education Project, a partnership between Orcas Center, the Orcas Island Public School District and the Orcas Island Education Foundation to provide comprehensive arts education to K-12 students.

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