Salado puts on 'Perry's Hatter Is Up the Creek' Posted On: Friday, Aug. 15 2008 02:46 AM Special to the Daily Herald

SALADO – The Silver Spur Theater's fourth annual melodrama, "Perry's Hatter Is Up the Creek" has been greeted weekend after weekend with a chorus of boos and hisses from the assembled audiences, and the writer-director Gary D. Askins couldn't be more pleased.

"This is what melodramas and live theater are supposed to be all about," Askins said. "I love it that our village and theater guests are so involved in this year's show. Our crowds, mostly families, are encouraged to audibly participate, even throwing popcorn at the villains."

Heroes, gorillas, villains and ordinary townsfolk were seen earlier this summer chasing through the historic village and along the bucolic creek as part of the melodrama-silent cinema summer hijinks subtitled: "The Deathly Secret Half-blood Prisoner's Phoenix Stone Goblet."

The play spoofs Harry Potter books, with generous helpings of political satire and slapstick comedy.

The 150-seat proscenium theater was developed in 2003 in the historic Sanford & Guest Granary and Feed Store (at 108 Royal St.) in downtown Salado a few blocks off Interstate 35.

The show includes a 20-minute silent movie chase sequence through the streets and businesses of Salado.

Many in the "cast of characters" are melodrama regulars and unless noted, local Salado actors.

Kevin C. Carr of Round Rock is Snidely H. Whiplash, the villain. Tony Blackman portrays Snidely's dim-witted sidekick, Billy Bob McMuggle.

Rebekah Grayson is Miss Goody Goody, the heroine, and Melissa Kemp of Woodway (Waco) plays her guardian, Bertha Bovine.

The angora-chaps-wearing hero, Ranger Sam Houston "Tex" Grainger, is played by Grainger Esch, with Douglas Mackie as his sidekick, Deputy Justin Nicholas Time.

The role of Miss Katrina Love, proprietress of Miss Kitty's Passion Palace, is played by Karen Ewton, and the playwright himself is Tonkawa Tom, Chief of the Lost Tribe.

Performances continue through Aug. 23, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights with 2 p.m. Saturday matinees.

Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for senior citizens (65 and over) and military personnel, and $10 for children (12 and under); and $12, $10 and $8, respectively for matinees.

For group prices, reservations or more information, call (254) 947-3456 or go to www.saladosilverspur.com.