A Review of Tons of Money

by Toni Wilson Wood

Waterloo - Alan Ayckbourn's Tons of Money is a hilarious farcical romp about indebtedness, inheritance, and imposters. This is the first show directed by Brian McCarty at Waterloo Community Playhouse and he has done a fine job with this show. What I love about McCarty’s approach to this show is that he’s really gathered together wonderful actors who meld together as an ensemble--each actor, no matter how big or small his or her part is, gives everything he or she can to the role--and you can see that in the performance.

A Review of A Murder is Announced

by Toni Wood


Waterloo - A Murder is Announced, running at the Waterloo Community Playhouse, is an adaptation of the fourth Miss Marple book, written by Agatha Christie. This intriguing and surprisingly funny adaptation will keep you guessing 'til the very end.

The basics of the story are classic Agatha Christie; an ad appears in the local newspaper's personal ads stating that a murder will occur at the home of Letitia Blacklock on the night of Friday, October 13th at 6:30 p.m., which, as luck would have it, is the night that the play begins. The characters become more and more nervous as the time ticks toward 6:30, and after the murder, secrets, lies and cover-ups of nearly every character come out.

Frost/Nixon Features Passionate Performances

By Toni Wilson Wood
Photos by Matthew R. Kerns

Thomas Carlisle as Nixon

Waterloo - Frost/Nixon, performed by Waterloo Community Playhouse, is an epic juggernaut that covers three years, various locations, and the verbal boxing match between David Frost, the British talk show host who was better known for his handling of models, not presidents, and President Richard Nixon, who was seeking a way to redeem himself without apologizing for something he felt was not something to apologize for.

Sound boring? You would be wrong. While this material could be considered dry, Peter Morgan, author of Frost/Nixon, took a huge amount of information and condensed it into something digestible. He created a text that clocks in at 2 hours (sans intermission) that feels much shorter than it actually is. There isn’t anything extraneous here. Every word, every actor has his place.