The Porch Club of Riverton will present the East Coast premiere of “Sparky Goes to Doris Day’s Hotel” on Saturday, March 8, at 7 p.m.
The family-friendly, radio mystery recreation was written by Moorestown resident Donna Marie Nowak, and features vintage costumes, sound effects, original vintage radio commercials and free refreshments.
“I was writing and drawing as soon as I could pick up a pen,” Nowak recalled. “I always loved literature, I always loved storytelling …
Nowak is an author and cartoonist with more than 100 publication credits, including books, articles, short stories, radio shows and reviews. She’s also a regular contributor to broadwayworld.com.
“As far as cartoons, I always knew how to draw, but I think I learned how to draw from watching Gene London,” she noted, referring to the longtime host of the Philadelphia-based children’s show, “Cartoon Corners.”
“These are the two things I always did,” Nowak added, “and my older sister and I, we created our own books, we created our own cutouts, we had our own little mystery series going … By the time I was 12, I had written over 100 short stories.”
“Sparky Goes to Doris Day’s Hotel” was originally performed and broadcast by the Shoestring Radio Theater in San Francisco. It tells the story of amateur sleuth Miss Iodine Bell, who adopts a feisty toy poodle named Sparky Bell from the Fins, Feathers and Fur Animal Shelter and brings him to celebrate at the Cypress Inn – owned by actress and animal advocate Doris Day – in Carmel, California.
Miss Bell discovers that a huge dog show is underway there and that a former multiple best-in-show winner, Nipper, has been nipped. She then investigates who pinched the prize pooch.
“Sparky Goes to Doris Day’s Hotel” runs a half-hour, but there will be 10 minutes of lively original radio broadcasts from the 1930s performed and sung by the cast. There is also a musical prelude and musical ending, and a 15-minute break between acts.
“Anything that is created, it starts out with nothing,” Nowak observed. “You start out with a blank page, you start out with an idea, and from an idea, that’s how everybody gets started. Just go forward with it and just write down ideas … Just go for it. Don’t get so hung up on comparing yourself or any of that.”
Miss Bell is played by township resident Andrea Drechsler, out of an eight-person cast. Drechsler has graced many Moorestown Theater Company productions. The remaining cast members include Tracy Brobyn, Charlene Chamberlain, Dan Drechsler, Karen Goldfarb, Alex Kiernan, Kori Rife and Christian Noyes.
“They’re so great, all of them,” Nowak enthused. “I knew that going in, that they were this good, because I’ve seen them all perform in different shows … They’re just spot on. I knew that they were up to the task of bringing these characters to life.”
Tickets are $15, $20 at the door. For more information, visit www.theporchclub.org.
