Audience members kept coming back. Not just once, but three or four times. Some were dressing like the characters in the play. The audience screamed, stomped, and sung their way through the production, and they wanted more of "Boy Next Door."

The Brush Creek Playhouse was willing to provide it. The play is being held over by popular demand through November 7 and 8.

Local writer Sonya Heard wrote the violent comedy, the study of a serial killer and the mad voices that inhabit him. The original story came from a close source. The play's composer, Grace McDonald, had been writing with Heard for years.
"She said she had a show she always wanted to do.

A schoolmate in her younger years ended up being a serial killer. That always kind of bothered her, that you could go to school with someone and never really know who they are," Heard said of McDonald.

That was the beginning of "Boy Next Door." The result of the collaboration was an R-rated musical that Heard describes as "Rocky Horror meets Pulp Fiction." She attributes the success of the play to its performers, as well as the wild structure of the show.

"The show happens around you at times, the audience is encouraged to be loud, participate, and sing with the cast. The band is part of the show. They come out into the aisle; you just never know what will happen," Heard said.
The November performances are intended to benefit a Silverton area food bank and the "Together Again" Christmas Party sponsored by Intensive Treatment Recovery Services for parents working on bringing their children home to a healthy family environment.

Attendees who bring in two new toys (for both boys and girls) or one new toy and six cans of food, Heard explained, means free admission into the show. Without a donation, the show costs $15.
"Boy Next Door"'s November shows will begin at 7 p.m. For more information and reservations contact Brush Creek Playhouse BCPtheater@aol.com.

Is there a salesman in the house?

"Death of a Salesman," the inescapable 1949 tragedy, is returning its anti-hero Willy Loman to Pentacle Theatre's stage this January.
Pentacle has produced "Death of a Salesman" before, 22 years ago. Actor/director Jeff Sanders played Willy's son Happy Loman in that production, and the experience imprinted him deeply with the value of the play.

"Shortly after the 1986 production closed I was approached at a lunch counter by a young lady who had seen the production. She quietly related a recent and truly terrible tragedy that had befallen her family. It seems that her experience at `Salesman' had given her insights and at least some small measure of comfort.  This moment was a defining one for me. I believe very strongly that a true community theater must serve these needs in its community," Sanders said.

So it is with anticipation and pride that Sanders helms Pentacle's new production of the stage classic, which he will cast this November 22.

The smoothness of an ensemble is of primary importance to Sanders, and he tries to stay away from set ideas of what his characters should be.
"I've found that no matter how fully thought out I think my ideas on a play might be, working with the actors always deepens and informs and sometimes alters completely all the homework I've done beforehand," Sanders said.

"Salesman," the story of a man who failed the American dream, or was failed by it, has been portrayed thousands of times and contains multitudes in its subtleties. Sanders' current vision revolves around Willy's undoing due to the deception of ideals.

Any actors interested in exploring the decline of the Lomans should attend open auditions at the Pentacle Theatre, November 22 at 1 p.m. Parts are available for men and women, ages 25 to 65. Scripts available at Pentacle Business Office. For more information contact Director Jeff Sanders, at (503) 551-1445 or sandersjeff@comcast.net.