In case you missed it, the WHS Theatre department presented the dramatic comedy Murder at Cafe Noir on November 14th, 15th, and 16th. Full of backstabbers, thieves, smugglers, and romantic mystery, Murder at Cafe Noir was an amazing performance by the WHS Theatre.
The story follows Rick Archer, private investigator, on a mission to find a priest’s runaway daughter, Sheila Wonderly. But after Rick stumbles upon a small Caribbean bar full of criminals and convicts on his way to find her, he finds himself caught up in a case deeper than he’d anticipated. Rick’s love for Humphrey Bogart movies leads him to take on the whodunnit mystery left by the late cafe owner, Andre Gavreau, who was shot dead with a 0.22 pistol and an unknown murderer with a deep grudge.
As more information is revealed about the mysterious two-faced Andre Gavreau and those he wronged, motives for six suspects soon surface, leaving Rick with a difficult case to solve. Anthony Cairo, Thursby, Maria Larue, Madame Toreau, and even Rick’s runaway, Sheila Wonderly, appear to have a little more to them than meets the eye, and all of them had something against the dead restaurateur. 
Details about the restaurateur are slowly revealed by these six suspects along with their pasts. However, after Thursby finds out a little too much, Andre’s killer decides to take no chances, murdering Thursby with the same gun they plugged Gavreau with. Tensions rise, and before our detective can riddle out the mystery, the murderer turns on a man with a little too much information on them, Van-Gilder, quite literally stabbing him in the back.
But in the end, after a few gun fights, voodoo dolls, and gray envelopes, the cafe’s very owner, Madame Toreau, is revealed as the murderer. The widow of Andre, the woman scorned, who was left alone after Andre changed and grew away from her. But before the police on the scene can carry her off to jail, she takes a knife to her own chest, leaving Rick and Sheila to run the Caribbean Cafe.
The actor playing Sheila Wonderly, Guadalupe Peralta Orellano, was very happy to be able to portray this role, although it didn’t come without challenges. “My biggest obstacle with Sheila was that I really wasn’t used to playing characters like her!” Peralta-Orellano says. “The first time I read about her lines I noticed just how flirtatious and risque she could be because I knew she was also like the “femme fatale” stereotype that I could play into could be dangerous because it was just so out of my comfort zone.” She also describes having to work around that stereotype, in order to create a character that everyone could love. “As far as bringing the script to life, mainly the hardest was having to flirt with Dom (Dominic Napper, actor of Rick Archer).” Guadalupe says. “…it was definetly hard to act out that tension that Sheila and Rick have without being uncomfortable because neither of us really wanted to do what the script says.”
As it turns out, pages of the original script were scrapped due to content. But nonetheless, Peralta-Orellano says that the play was really fun because she “…enjoy(s) interacting with others on stage.” Despite some questionable lines, Guadalupe says that there were some fun ones as well. “My favorite line! If it’s one that Sheila says, it’s probably gotta be a tie between ‘where’s your shining armor?’ and ‘My father is filthy rich, Ricky baby- and he got that way by promising something no one can deliver- Salvation!'”
A great thanks is due to our theater director, Mrs. Van-Gilder Martin, aided by her tech crew and actors, who all helped make the show possible. Dominic Napper portrayed private eye Rick Archer, along with Guadalupe Peralta Orellano starring as femme fatale Sheila Wonderly. They were accompanied by Sani Mollet (Madame Toreau), Clark Bailey (Thursby), Iris Inskeep (Simon Gutterman), Drew Stepherson (Anthony Cairo), Breanna Kendall (Maria Larue), Jazmyne Hively (VanGilder), Connor R (Officer Rigfield), and many other criminal customers and characters filling the scene.
Don’t miss out on the next WHS production; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, coming to you spring 2025!
