Miriam Ahmed and Nikki Cheshire–Staff Writers 
Deadwood Dick, a western-style comedy featuring plenty of shooting, yelling, bar fights and intrigue involving a hidden gold mine will be coming to the Saxon Stage this spring, from March 18-20. “The play is set in Deadwood, Gulch and stars Blackman Redburn as the main character – otherwise known as “Deadwood Dick,” played by Wes Brandt.
A new spin on this season’s play is that the set remains constant – the entire play takes place at Calamity Jane’s (played by Grace Worm) Mantrap Saloon. Kate DaRocha, who plays as La Paloma, appears as the head girl of the saloon. Judge Nix (Mike Richardson) and Alex Lichtenstein as Sheriff Loveless are set as the enforcers of the law, and the emotional Sheriff’s wife is seen as Molly Loveless (Kelly Hubbell). Chet (Jordan Moeller) is featured as the bartender. The heroes of the story are Ned Harris (Paul Goldberg) and Wild Bill (Erik Pike). Staying true to its Western origins, the play also features damsels in distress: Dick’s sisters Rose (Janie Yurechko) and Lily Blossom (Emily Mannon).
The preview given on March 17 during Saxon Time consisted of three sneak peeks of the different acts. Drama teacher Ms. Phyliss Jaffe gave a short description of each scene before the students preformed the selected pieces, being sure to attract as many people as possible to the opening nights without giving too much away.
The effectiveness of the preview was shown through the responses of students in the audience. “I’m going to see it to support the theater department because I know how hard they’ve worked,” sophomore Katelyn Margraf said. Other students were very enthusiastic after the preview. “I expect ‘Deadwood Dick’ to be just as good as ‘2090,’” sophomore Neil Patil said, before excitedly adding “Ride ‘em cowboy, yeehaw!”
Other Cast Members:
Curry Kind- Tarun Sharma
Teetotal Tessie- Tess Higgins
Piano Annie & Andy- Nicole Kang & David Parker
Saloon Girls
Becca Allen, Gretchen Burke, Caroline Callahan, Jenna Dean,
Lauren Fernandez, Ade Guobadia, Taylor Goodson, Roxanne Mahmoudi, Sarah
Mendelsohn, Charline Parisot
Tessie’s Girls and Guys
Danielle Darcy, Ashley Irvin, Ashley Johnson, Shannon Keene, Morgan Ladd
Miners & Outlaws
Nick Calandra, Justin Cecil, Bryan Fernandez, Takuma Koide, Kevin Nejad, Brian Patterson, Arthur Richardson, Jack Sullivan, Chris Tabassi, Tu-An Truong
Assistant Director – Natalie Bozorgzad
Assistant Choreographer – Nicole Kang
*Cast list and plot courtesy of saxonstage.com