WORTHINGTON -- The villain will be greeted by boos and hisses, and the hero will get cheers and whistles.
That's the standard formula of audience participation for a melodrama such as "Fireman, Save My Child," which will be performed at 11 a.m. and 1 and 2:30 p.m. Friday during the Old-Fashioned Fourth of July at Worthington's Pioneer Village.
In the program for the melodrama, Richard Liapis is listed as both the "manly hero," Chester Quingle, and the show's producer.
"I started (acting in the melodrama) in 1993," Liapis said. "I missed a couple of years, so I've done 12 performances."
Most often, Liapis has played the hero to John Widboom's villain, and that's true again this year -- Widboom has the part of Archibald Quingle, Chester's brother and "the muchly despised villain." The "persecuted heroine," Daisy Dorrance, who is also described as "a woodland flower," is played by Heather Johnson.
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"In this one, the hero is gone for some reason at the beginning -- nobody's really sure why," described Liapis about the plot. "It happens this time that the hero and villain start out as brothers. The villain is trying somehow to win the heart of the heroine. I, the hero, show up unexpectedly and foil his plot. The villain has been stealing money from the mill and blaming it on the hero."
That's the basic plot, but because it's a melodrama, the audience should be prepared for the unexpected.
"It's one of those few (theater experiences) where you actively encourage audience participation," Liapis explained. "If the audience doesn't participate, it has an effect on the actors, you anticipate those hurrays and yeahs and boos and hisses, and you can overact or underact. For those who come to them regularly, watching John drop his lines and then recover is usually entertainment in itself. ... We do our best to be entertaining. The rest of us can follow his lead a little bit. John does a great job with that. A lot of people come back over and over again just to banter with him."
After so many years, Liapis isn't sure how he came to be involved with the melodrama, although Widboom probably had a role in the recruitment.
"I guess it feeds my acting bug," he said. "I just enjoy it. John and I have been doing this for many years together, and we work well together. We've been very fortunate to have many of the same people come back and do parts again, which helps tremendously."
Rounding out the cast are: Ali Cross as Mrs. Julia Quingle, "an old-fashioned mother;" Lexy Steinle as Mrs. Sally Crossbury, "the village gossip;" Gabby Cross as Myrtle Johnes; Alex Myrom as "the funny feller," Bing Barnes; and Mariah Teerink playing Mary Lawson, a bookkeeper. Accompaniment duties are shared by Linda Lang and Lois Gruis.
"We've been rehearsing since the beginning of June, averaging three times a week," Liapis said. "The tough part is getting everybody's schedules to coincide. ... It's an interesting process, but everything seems to fall together."
While the melodrama is one of the highlights of the Fourth of July festivities, there will be many other things to see and do Friday at Pioneer Village. There will be heritage displays and demonstrations on blacksmithing, wood stove baking, flour milling, rope making, corn shelling and home canning. In the Red Garter Saloon, there will be entertainment, and lemonade and popcorn will be served. The St. John's Lutheran Church Choir from Okabena will perform from 10 to 11 a.m. in the small pioneer church. In the fire hall, hot dogs, hamburgers, soft drinks, water and root beer floats will be available.
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The Prairie Reapers will also conduct their 22nd annual power reunion, featuring a display of CASE tractor and machinery on the grounds. A tractor pull is scheduled for 11 a.m. and the tractor parade at noon.
An admission fee will be charged for Pioneer Village, but Nobles County Historical Society members will be admitted free with membership card.
Other special Fourth of July events in Worthington will include a concert by the "Amazing" Worthington City Band at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Chautauqua Park. Fireworks will follow at dusk over Lake Okabena.
