Weiser Little Theater’s fall play opens Oct. 18


Stephen, played by Shawn Purdue, steps between the two cooking show divas Dolly Biddle (Sandra Cooper) and Isobel Loma (Dianne Kinney). The farce brings together the two women who are forced to share a television stage when their own cooking shows are canceled. The Weiser Little Theater production of ‘The Kitchen Witches’ is funny and at times poignant and touching. The play has a hardworking cast of four and opening night is Oct. 18. Photo by Steve Lyon
By: 
Steve Lyon
The cast is currently in rehearsals for Weiser Little Theater’s fall production of “The Kitchen Witches,” a high-energy and raucously funny play that opens on Oct. 18 for a two-week run of dinner and dessert shows.
 The play features longtime WLT board member Teresa Siegel in her first directing effort. Brenda Lee is the executive producer and taking care of all aspects of the production. Hunter Mizer is running the lights and sound with the assistance of his daughter, Emma.
 The small but extremely experienced cast includes Dianne Kinney as Isobel Loma, Sandra Cooper as Dolly Biddle, Shawn Perdue in the role of Dolly’s son, Stephen, and Lee McGary as the camera man. They have been in rehearsals since early August.
 The action takes place in a kitchen on the set of a low-budget televsion studio. Isobel Loma and Dolly Biddle are two “mature” cable-access cooking show hostesses who have hated each other for 30 years, ever since Larry Biddle dated one and married the other. When each has their cooking show canceled, circumstances put them together on a TV show called “The Kitchen Witches,” and the insults are flung harder than the food.
 Dolly’s long-suffering TV-producer son Stephen tries to keep them on track and acts as a referee, but as long as Dolly’s dressing room is one inch closer to the set than Isobel’s, it’s a losing battle, and the show becomes a rating smash as Dolly and Isobel top both Martha Stewart and Jerry Springer.
 Kinney, who plays the role of Isobel Loma in the small cast of four, said she really likes the humor of playright Caroline Smith and her character’s give and take with Dolly, who is played by Sandra Cooper.
 “I just love the interaction with Dolly,” Kinney said.
 Sandy Cooper said she is excited to be back on stage after taking a couple of years off from performing. She has acted in more than a dozen WLT productions and has directed four or five, along with serving on the WLT board for many years.
 Cooper said the interaction between the two cooking divas on stage is hilarious and also touching and poignant at times. Her character, Dolly, is a survivor who is both tough and tender at times and also a bit manipulative.
 “It’s a fun, fun character to do,” she said.
 In real life, Kinney and Cooper have known each other for many years and are longtime friends. That makes it a challenge to keep a straight face when they are in character and staring at each other and spouting vitriolic putdowns of each other. 
 Three of the four cast members have the majority of speaking lines, so there was a lot to memorize, she said. McGary, who plays the cameraman, has just one line, but his gestures during the play speak volumes. 
 The opening night on Thursday, Oct. 18, is a dessert only night. Another dessert night is Tuesday, Oct. 23. The dinner shows are on Oct. 19, 20, 25, 26, and 27. The dinner menu is chicken cordon bleu, rice, glazed carrots, dinner salad, assorted rolls and apple dumpling served during dessert intermission.
 Tickets are available by going online to the Weiser Little Theater’s home page and clicking on Seat Yourself. Tickets can also be purchased at the Weiser Chamber of Commerce office in the Vendome Events Center.
 According to a review in the Orangeville Banner, “take a handful of animated actors, add a lively and responsive audience, let the plot thicken and you get a savoury show that’s sure to please even the fussiest palate.” 
 Another review noted that, “with nods to comedic icons like Carol Burnett, the show pulls no punches when it comes to both shocking and tickling audiences”

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18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
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