Lehigh Valley Stage

Come by boat, or through your imagination, to Merriweather Island to see “Lucky Lindy’s Not So Lucky Landing”, an interactive show at the Pines Dinner Theatre 448 N. 17th Street, Allentown, PA. Show times are 7 PM on Fridays, and 4 and 7 PM Saturdays until May 9. There is a special show at 12:30 pm on Sunday, April 11.

The set of “Lucky Lindy” is a tropical island, designed to immerse the audience in warmth and relaxation from the beginning.

The Narrator, Mabel Johnson, played by Syd Stauffer, is entertaining. She banters with the audience and has a nice sense of sarcasm. 

Kristopher Wills as J.P. (Jon-Pierre) is entertaining as well. His French accent is perfect.

J.P.’s duet partner Henrietta, played by Jennifer Wills, is alluring and enigmatic. Both the Wills blend their voices nicely when they sing as J.P. and Henrietta. Jennifer Wills’s contralto is strong and sultry- and she is convincing as the jealous starlet. 

Jaedon Muhl as Billy works seamlessly between waiter and actor! He has a funny line: “All the apes are going crazy for the bananas. They think they’re “ap-pealing”.”

Leslie Rodig is great as the annoying wannabe actress Lina Lamore. Her antics are on point. Henrietta and Lina quickly enter a hilarious rivalry, and Lina steals the spotlight from Jon-Pierre and Henrietta by dancing as they’re trying to sing. Later in the show, it’s clear that Lina is a lot less talented than she thinks she is, and Rodig pulls that off wonderfully. She is also convincing at being scared, although the audience probably can’t tell right off the bat if Lina’s fear is real or faked, and here’s why: she might not be as dumb as she seems. After all, she has knowledge of random facts, although she also has an inability to realize the other character’s sarcasm and use of figurative language.

Matthew Folger plays the title character, Lucky Lindy, with a perfect Southern accent. He is clearly somewhat of a sleaze ball, which Folger pulls off very well. His funniest line is: “Well, it’s not too hot here and there are no accordion players. We’re not in Hell.”

Part of the audience participation involves a random member of the audience being chosen to die. Later, we learn that this is another character, named Louie Lamay (or Monterey, depending on which character you ask). At the 4 pm show on April 10, Chris Tippit played this role, and was very entertaining and convincing. Since the show is interactive, toward the end of the show, the audience has the opportunity to guess who the killer is.

The format of “Lucky Lindy’s Not So Lucky Landing” is unique. Instead of a long Act I, one intermission, and a long Act II, there are a lot of breaks during the show. This method works well, especially for people with ADHD and others with short attention spans!

“Lucky Lindy’s Not So Lucky Landing” was written by Pines Musical Director Oliver Blatt, who also composed original music for the play. The music, which was recorded by Stacey Bechtel, is upbeat and professionally done.

Overall, this play is gripping from beginning to end. The audience is on the edge of their seats until finding out who the killer is.

Tickets are $30, and you can order food and/or drink a la carte for an additional price.  For information visit https://www.pinesdinnertheatre.com/2017/buytickets.html or call 610-433-2333.