By Stub Estey
Marty Kelly’s director’s note in the Playbill nailed it when wrote, “Melodrama: It’s the art of artifice.…” I had to look it up; think pretense, deceit, trickery, wily. Kelly goes on to describe this production of an 1890s melodrama as a “love letter to theatricality,” and it is indeed an early Valentine for the audience, because it’s full of my new favorite word: artifice.
The show checks all the boxes of melodrama: simple characters, over-the-top dialogue (think, as you twist your handlebar black mustache, “Curses, foiled again!”), a strong and obvious moral lesson. Oh, and did I mention that it is funny?
The storyline is a spoof of turn-of-the-century melodramas. The play’s villain, Munro Murgatroyd (Anthony Fuller), hatches a scheme to sell to the railroad some land owned by country girl Nellie Lovelace (Rachel Scott). The dastardly Murgatroyd is the character you love to hate. Drawing theatrical boos from the audience (egging them on and loving every second of it), he presses into service his conniving wife, belle of the New Haven Music Halls Ida Rhinegold (Elizabeth Steimel), and the game’s afoot.
The cleverly written dialogue by playwright Bill Johnson, along with the witty delivery by the actors, keeps the audience engaged. On the edge of their seats, audiences digest the twists of the plot along with its arcane and humorously complex lines.
Rachel Scott, as Nellie Lovelace, is the target of Murgatroyd’s endless advances, and she progresses believably through the play from an ingenue to a more experienced woman who has lived a hard life.
Where there are villains there must be heroes, and the blacksmith’s son Adam Oakhart (Val Kuperman) supplies that needed feature with handsome and earnest appeal. In pursuing Nellie, Murgatroyd drives Oakhart away temporarily. When his plan to seduce Nellie doesn’t work, Munro sets sights on Leonie (Kenna Duncan), daughter of the fabulously wealthy Mrs. Upton Asterbilt (Ellen Tolson). Dirty Work, indeed!
The Playbill says Duncan is in her first community theater production, but the audience would not guess that. She brings Leonie to life with verve, making it evident she is struggling strongly against her mother’s apron strings. Her rendition of the song “The Eastern Train” is a pleasant way to add to her story and fill out her character.
Ellen Tolson plays dual roles and brings just the right tone to each one. First, as Nellie’s mother the Widow Lovelace, she is stern and staunch. Reappearing on stage as Mrs. Asterbilt, she personifies a wealthy dowager, with an altogether different visage.
The idea of having pianist Lori Roddy onstage providing dramatic melodious embellishments to the plot, and expert accompaniment for seven period songs, was an excellent directorial choice. Lori even got into the act herself a few times, which was delightful.
Steimel, who has appeared in many musicals, tunefully set an old-timey tone when her character Ida sang “All That Glitters Is Not Gold.” A half-dozen other songs were artfully accompanied by Roddy’s tickling the ivories in the style of an old music hall. Rachel Scott, as the sincere Nellie, adds a nostalgic touch when she muses musically about “The Old Cuckoo Clock That Hangs Upon the wall.”
The actors must have worked hard to memorize and deliver with sprit the play’s arcane lines, like when Tolson, as Mrs. Asterbilt, delivers a mouthful of them to Murgatroyd: “This impertinence passes endurance. Not only do you follow me to this rural retreat, but you presume to impose your disreputable friends upon me as well!” Who talks like that? Who can remember to talk like that?
Kayla Beardsley is delicious as Lady Asterbilt’s French maid Fleurette, and surreptitiously hilarious as the power behind Nellie’s child, little Nell.
Guy Callahan plays Mookie and carries aptly the arc of his character from a simple farmer to a local lawman with a key role in setting things right.
It is difficult to describe further the goings-on without giving too much away, but the story line holds surprises for the audience. Spoiler alert: Virtue narrowly triumphs at the end.
Costuming is provided by Colleen Corrado and sets the characters up with the right appearance at the right time to help the audience visualize them in the time and places needed.
The simple yet versatile set (fence doubling as railroad tracks for tying down the heroes) was designed by Doug Barylski, FCT’s manager of set and props supplies. Taken together with lighting by Jack Tessier (you can see the time-of-day changes, mood swings, and characters spotlighted when necessary), and sound by Stacy King (you can hear the river flowing and country night sounds), those elements support the show and help move the story along. Backstage activity was unobtrusively handled by stage manager Jill Chen.
Running Time: Two hours plus a 15-minute intermission.
Dirty Work at the Crossroads plays through February 8, 2026 (Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm) presented by Fauquier Community Theatre, performing at the Vint Hill Theater on the Green, 4225 Aiken Dr, Warrenton, VA. All tickets ($16 for youth, $18 for seniors, $20 for adults) are for reserved seating. Purchase tickets online or call the box office at (540) 349-8760.
Programs are available at the performances and online.
Stub Estey is a retired business executive and local theater actor/musician/author in northern Virginia. His book Oxcart Gold Rush recounts the travels of a 19th-century ’49er who crossed the U.S. in an oxcart 41years before the 1890 setting of Dirty Work at the Crossroads.
