Climb aboard LPO Rep’s Murder on the Orient Express

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

In the genre of murder mystery, there are few who have done it better than Agatha Christie. Her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections are so popular, they have been outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.

Local theater troupe Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theatre presents one of Christie’s more celebrated works, Murder on the Orient Express, for two consecutive weekends on Friday, Sept. 15-Saturday, Sept. 16 and Friday, Sept. 22-Saturday, Sept. 23. Showtime all four nights is 7 p.m. and tickets are available for $25 either at the door or lporep.com.

Coming off the heels of the successful production of Into the Woods, LPO Repertory Theatre aims to put their high mark of excellence on Murder on the Orient Express as well.

When famous detective Hercule Poirot is called back from Istanbul to London on urgent business, he finds himself on a packed train run by his former friend and colleague Monsieur Bouc. While onboard the Orient Express, Poirot meets a menagerie of peculiar characters, one of which is a businessman who demands that Poirot investigate a series of ominous letters threatening bodily harm. After a snow storm stops the train dead in its tracks, a businessman named Ratchett is found stabbed multiple times and the famous detective is once again tasked with solving the murder.

Murder is directed by Tim Bangle, who is making a directorial transition from his usual work in film to the stage.

Murder on the Orient Express shows at the Panida the next two weekends. Courtesy photo.

“The biggest difference I’ve found between directing plays and movies is the amount of prep time,” Bangle told the Reader. “I write my own films, so I have longer to develop and understand them.”

Acknowledging that the murder mystery genre has never been his favorite, Bangle admits that Murder is growing on him — especially with the decision to take some liberties with the script and add a unique flavor to the production.

“One example of that is showing video assets,” Bangle said. “The whole first scene is film. Also, in the main play, the young character of Daisy is only in the first part, but in ours we incorporate her throughout the rest of the show and use her in powerful ways at the end.”

Murder features a diverse local cast of longtime favorites alongside new faces in the theater scene. Steven Hammond will play Poirot, while Corey Repass tackles the role of his friend Bouc. Britt Hagen plays the Countess Andrenyi, Ashley Shalbreck takes on Princess Dragomiroff and Dorothy Prophet ends a years-long acting hiatus when she returns to the stage as Mrs. Hubbard. 

McCallum Morgan will play Pierre Michel, Myla McKechnie plays Hector McQueen, Suzann McLamb will play Greta Ohlsson and Holly Beaman will tackle the role of Mary Debenham. Finally, Michael Bigley returns to the stage for Col. Arbuthnot, Mark West takes on the role of the businessman Ratchett, Sofia West and Estella Simmons will portray young Daisy, and Mattie Patterson plays the role of Suzanne.

“I approached this play by giving actors one word at the beginning of the rehearsal process for how I wanted to approach their character,” Bangle said. “In the beginning of callbacks I said bring it and they brought it … Over 50% of the cast is new blood in this production.”

The crew includes Myriah Bell as stage manager, Wesleigh Hammond handling lighting, Kehle Hatch doing sound, Vicki Turnbull tackling costumes, Valerie Moore doing set design, Noemi Hatch as props assistant and Britt Hagen doing makeup.

“Our design team and specifically Valerie Moore … has been working on set design since July,” Bangle said.

Notable design and props include a giant book — with turnable pages — that will serve as a chapter marker for each scene.

“Also, Vicki Turnbull had to have costumes done three weeks ago because we had to film the murder scene,” Bangle said. “She’s been fabulous.”

Christie’s book was adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig, and Keely Gray serves as producer.

“From the first time I read this script, the thing that stood out most to me was … the love story,” Bangle said. “There’s the love of a little girl, the loss of that love that drove them to commit this crime, Poirot also has a love for law and order based upon his past experience with chaos and disorder. That’s what we’re focused on; the love that’s driving all of these characters on stage.”