Prairie View's ensemble brings 'Trouble in Tumbleweed' to life

The mayor of Tumbleweed rallies the townspeople (his cousins) to lie and bribe the inspector into giving his boss a good report on the town in this scene from Prairie View's play, "Trouble in Tumbleweed," presented at the district's Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Feb. 27. The actors are, from left, Aurora Burton, Jayden Weir, Colten McCrea, Lily Michelle, Aiden Bevan and Mary Ryan. 

Story and photos by Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

The scene is an empty hotel lobby in a dusty town in the Arizona Territory in the 1880s. A woman is heard singing off stage and off key. Enter Mayor Oates, who has been hired by a businessman from back East to build the town of Tumbleweed, a town the businessman hopes will one day be the capitol of the territory. The mayor is both irritated by the grating voice and anxious about something else.

That was the opening scene of “Trouble in Tumbleweed,” a comedy written by playwright Tim Kelly and presented by the Prairie View High School theater department on Thursday, Feb. 27.

Professor Burns (Paige Utech) and Lily De Lilac (Danica Brake) plot to swindle the townsfolk into thinking the professor is the inspector reporting on the town. 

The audience soon learns that plans to build Tumbleweed have gone awry, and an inspector hired by the businessman to inspect the town’s progress is reported to be on his way. That throws the mayor and the group of his relatives hired to build the town into a panic because instead of building up the town, they have pocketed the money.

Throw in stranded traveling medicine show huckster Professor Burns, who the mayor and his relatives believe to be the detective, and glamorous cardsharp Lily de Lilac, and you have the backstory to a play that kept the audience laughing.

Accompanied by Julie (Cheyanne Moss), the mayor's daughter, Luther (Cash Lintner), a young prospector, reveals he is the real inspector sent to investigate Tumbleweed. This revelation happens after the town was swindled by the Professor and Lily out of hundreds of dollars.

A sound prop that never ceased being funny was when a group of actors had a revelation, the open music theme from the movie "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" would play as the characters froze, in unison looking off into the audience for the source of that haunting melody.

Eventually the young prospector in the town reveals his true identity as the inspector, and his revelation cements the romantic bond he has forged with the mayor's daughter.

The cast and crew of Prairie View's "Trouble in Tumbleweed" gather for a group portrait following Thursday's show.

Cast members for the play included:

• Paul Ryan as Lawyer Maxwell

• Mary Ryan as Miranda Oates

• Cecilia Brockway as Gert

• Natalee Ferguson as Electra

• Danica Brake as Electra

• Paige Tech as Professor Tom Burns

• Cheyanne Moss as Julie Oates

• Colten McCrea as Mayor Oates

• Aurora Burton as Sheriff Plunkett and Ottillie

• Faith Campbell as Admiral Sessions and Antoinette

• Jayden Weir as Doc Snipes

• Christian Raphael Martin as Gilroy Calendar

• Aaden Bevan as Harry Dobbs

• Lily Michelle as Victoria Dobbs

• Abigail Alvarez as Opal Crabtree

• Oriana Frymyer as Mrs. Baywater

• Cash Lintner as Luther

• Jillian McCarty as Widder Haskens

Drama teacher Austin Pixton directed the play with the help of stage manager Rylan McCrea, light board operator Bailey Hughes and sound board operator Jacob Law along with help from Annette Viner in the control booth.

Stage hands included:

• Ava Griego

• Ariel Suppenbach

• Alexandria Sheehan

• Erick Grove

• Alan Buren

Other photos from the show: