When razors and pill boxes go missing,fingers start pointing in original cruise ship caper

By Alicia Doyle

Special to the Acorn

WELCOME TO THE SHOWAbove, actors sing Sea Cruise during rehearsals this week for Hi-Jinx on the High Seas at the Simi Valley Senior Center. The original musical comedy, which runs two hours and features some 30 songs, will be performed June 29 and 30 at the center. At right, Bill Heiden, left, leans in to listen to Tina Larson as she whispers to him during a scene. The show is filled with kooky characters, including gamblers and seasick passengers. A whodunit caper about stolen items on a cruise ship is the subject of an original musical comedy that will be staged at the Simi Valley Senior Center on June 29 and 30.

Hi-Jinx on the High Seas was written and directed by members of the Simi Valley Senior Center Performing Arts Group.

It is a conglomerate of vignettes of people you would see if they were traveling on a cruise shipand people start missing things, said Jeanne Reed, 79, the shows director. We lose really important things, like hemorrhoid cream, a razor, a pill box, comb and sunglasses.

JESSE WATROUS/Acorn Newspapers Cast members, most of whom are residents of Simi Valley, use their own names for the characters they play.

This production has no star, said Reed.

The play is filled with kooky characters, such as a compulsive gambling husband whose wife is a compulsive spender.

I lose my hemorrhoid cream and he loses his shaver, said Tina Larson, 73, who is playing herself alongside her husband, Duwayne, 79.

Reed will play the role of a passenger traveling with her best friend, who has tremendous seasickness and keeps losing track of her seasick pills.

Were this crazy group of oddballs, Reed said.

Yolie Alvarado, 68, plays the prime suspect.

Everybody thinks Im the thief, said Alvarado. I carry this big bag around with me, so they think I have all the goodies in there.

In the play, shes a solo traveler whose father owned a secondhand store.

So Ive got this weird, bizarre clothing, said Alvarado, who will sing Second Hand Rose. Im by myself all the time and my character is just crazy wacky. I cant hear too well, I cant see too well, Im in my own little dream world. I dont like anybody.

Alvarados song is one of about 30 to be performed during the musical. Popular tunes include Ill Be Seeing You, I Could Have Danced All Night, Under the Sea and The Best Things in Life Are Free.

The show, which runs about two hours, will include an intermission, when tap dancers from the Simi Valley Senior Center will perform.

Linda Detamore, one of the tappers, is also portraying a passenger in the play.

Im a friend of a disabled lady. Shes in a wheelchair and Im her caregiver, Detamore, 59, said about her role. I protect everybody and I stand up for Yolie when shes accused. Im only there because Im taking care of my friend, whos on her first cruise.

Pat Danova will play the part of Detamores friend.

There are so many talented people in this show, said Danova, 74.

Trudy Dubrow, 85, is performing with the group for the first time this year.

My character is someone who is always nervous; I get seasick and nauseous and I worry about my seasick pills, said Dubrow.

Dubrow, who is also involved with an improv group in Woodland Hills, said she was happy to find a group in Simi Valley that would give her the opportunity to participate in one of her favorite hobbies.

I just moved here to Simi, Dubrow said. Im enjoying this skit and the people at the senior center are lovely. Ive always done straight acting, and when I came here I didnt know this was a musical. So this is a whole new thing for me.

Hi-Jinx on the High Seas will be performed at 1:30 p.m. Thurs., June 29 and at 9 p.m. Fri., June 30 at the senior center at 3900 Avenida Simi.

Admission is free.

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Seniors make waves with high-seas whodunit - Simi Valley Acorn