Gold Hill theater season starts with hauntings and dreams

The Gold Hill Theater Troupe is back in action for their Way Off Broadway After Dinner Theater fall season.

The troupe performed "Much Ado About Nothing," in August, then spent September getting ready for "The Dream," an original futuristic comedy written by troupe member Paul Sweetwood, and "The Uninvited," a published play written by Tim Kelley.

"The Dream" will be performed on Wednesdays beginning today through Nov. 14 and "The Uninvited" is scheduled for Thursdays through Nov. 15.

Bill Fain, the owner of the Gold Hill Hotel and the producer of the plays, said Sweetwood's work is among the troupe's favorites.

"The troupe really likes his plays," he said. "The actors are enthusiastic about it, it's got a lot of humor."

Fain said "The Dream" was set at the Gold Hill Hotel in 2012, and involves the dream of the hotel's fictional owner, a "henpecked" man who gambles against his wife's wishes and, after being kicked out of their room, embarks on a rather unusual dream.

Peter Reilly portrays Edgar, the hotel owner, and Jo Kilmer, who also directs, portrays his wife.

Others in the play include Lydia Jones, who plays an attractive employee and Mark Stevens, who plays singer Jerry Lee Lewis.

Fain said "The Dream" is the third play Sweetwood has written for the troupe, after "The Christmas Treasure" and "Betty Jean." He said several of the characters in the first two plays also appear in the third.

On Thursday, Redarle Baker directs "The Uninvited" a comedic ghost story that was made into a movie in 1944, starring Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey.

"The Uninvited" involves a brother-sister pair that decide to buy a home that turns out to be haunted.

"It's a comedy, and it's cute," Fain said.

Jones and Stevens also star in this play, along with Kathy Anderson.

Fain has said that audiences at the Gold Hill Hotel's plays usually prefer comedies.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.

If You Go

WHAT: "The Dream" and "The Uninvited"

WHEN: Dinner is from 5-7 p.m.; plays begin at 8 p.m. "The Dream" is on Wednesdays through Nov. 14; "The Uninvited" is on Thursdays through Nov. 15

WHERE: 1540 S. Main St., Gold Hill

COST: $30 for dinner and show; $10 for show only

CALL: 847-0111