THE GAME’S AFOOT!
Stage West presents the delightful mystery Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the
Elusive Ear, by David MacGregor
(Fort Worth, TX)
What could possibly bring together Sherlock Holmes, Vincent Van Gogh, and Oscar Wilde?
Audiences will have a grand time finding out, as Stage West presents the regional premiere of
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear, a witty riff on the classic Conan Doyle
mysteries, which begins a 3-week run on Thursday, June 6.
Life at 221-B Baker Street is a bit on the dull side at the moment. The most recent of the great
Sherlock Holmes’s cases have been too pedestrian to provide Dr. Watson with material for
another of his popular stories. Prospects for some healthy income don’t seem too promising until,
unexpectedly, a man arrives with a bloody bandage wrapped around his head. His name is
Vincent Van Gogh, as it happens, and he has lost something, well, rather important to him. His
arrival is followed shortly by another—a young woman is seeking to solve the murder of her
father. But the as-yet-undiscovered Van Gogh is too poor to pay Holmes’s fee, and the young
woman is not at all who she seems. A rollercoaster of a mystery is soon underway, with Holmes,
his paramour Irene Adler, and Watson on the case!
It’s an evening full of twists and turns, including a surprise appearance by Oscar Wilde, and is
sure to be hugely entertaining for all audiences!
Associate Producer Garret Storms says, “The first in a trilogy that we will be producing over the
next three seasons, these plays are not your typical Holmes stories – they are zany and
incredibly charming.”
“An expertly crafted, utterly intelligent, and yet purely delightful escape…thoughtful, artful
entertainment full of imagination and intrigue”
— Encore Michigan
David MacGregor was born in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Michigan State University.
He is a Resident Artist at The Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, MI, where he has had nine
productions: The Late Great Henry Boyle (2006), Vino Veritas (2008), Gravity (2010),
Consider the Oyster (2011), Just Desserts (2014), Vino Veritas (2017), Sherlock Holmes and the
Adventure of the Elusive Ear (2018), Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Fallen
Soufflé (2019), and Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Ghost Machine (2022). His newest
play, The Antichrist Cometh, premiered at The Purple Rose Theatre in March 2024. His holiday
comedy, Scrooge Macbeth premiered at Theatre B in Fargo, ND in 2013. His plays have been
performed from New York to Tasmania, and his work has been published by Dramatic Publishing,
Playscripts, Smith & Kraus, Applause, Heuer Publishing, and Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW).
In 2013, he adapted his play Vino Veritas into a film, which stars Carrie Preston and Bernard
White. His screenplay In the Land of Fire & Ice was a 2016 Athena Award winner (best
screenplay featuring a female protagonist), and is currently under option with Academy Award
nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo attached as the lead. Several of his short plays have also been
adapted into films (e.g., Just Desserts, New Year’s Eve, and The Trouble With Cashews). Easy
Way Out, the film based on his play For Old Time’s Sake, stars Academy Award nominee John
Savage. Most recently, he has adapted all three of his Sherlock Holmes plays into novels, which
have been published by MX Publishing, as is his nonfiction book, Sherlock Holmes: The Hero
With a Thousand Faces. He has had his writing publicly burned, has been hung in effigy, and
once upon a time, was ranked one of the top hundred Scrabble players on the planet.
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear will be directed by Amphibian Stage’s
Co-Artistic Director Jay Duffer. The cast features John-Michael Marrs, seen last season in Grand
Horizons, as Holmes, with Brian Gonzales, noted for his Broadway roles in Mr. Saturday Night
and Aladdin, making his Stage West debut, as Watson. Joining them are Stage West Executive
Producer Dana Schultes, just seen in POTUS: or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven
Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, as Holmes’ lady friend Irene Adler, Kelsey Milbourn, last seen
in the title role in Ada and the Engine, as Marie Chartier, Mitch Stephens, last at Stage West in
the Prism Movement Company’s Everything Will Be Fine, as Vincent Van Gogh, and Philip
Matthew Maxwell, who also appeared in Grand Horizons, as Oscar Wilde.
Set design is by Clare Floyd DeVries, with lighting design by Tristan Decker, costume design by
Laurie Land, sound design by Jason Jordan, intimacy coordination and choreography by Kelsey
Milbourn, fight choreography by Mitch Stephens, dialect coaching by Megan Noble, and props
and set décor by Lynn Lovett. Stage Manager duties will be handled by Kaitlin Hatton.
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear will preview Thursday, June 6 at 7:30 and
Friday, June 7 at 8:00, and will run through Sunday, June 23. The opening night reception will be
after the evening performance on Saturday, June 8. The ASL interpreted performance will be
Thursday, June 20. Post-show conversations with be following the performances on June 9
(matinee) with director Jay Duffer and June 15 (evening) with playwright David MacGregor.
Performances will be Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00, and
Sundays at 2:00 and 7:30. Ticket prices for this show are $43 on Thursdays, Fridays, and
Sunday evenings, and $47 on Saturdays and Sundays, with $38 tickets for the two preview
performances. Food service is available 90 minutes prior to performances (reservations are
advised). Reservations and information are available through the Box Office (817-784-9378), or
on the website, www.stagewest.org.
This show is rated PG.
* * * * *
Fact Sheet
Event: Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear
By David MacGregor
Where: Stage West
821 W. Vickery Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 76104
Metro (817) 784-9378 (STG-WEST)
Preview: Thurs, June 6 at 7:30
Fri, June 7 at 8:00
Regular Run: June 8 - 23, 2024
Thurs and Sun evenings 7:30PM
Fri/Sat evenings 8:00 PM
Sat and Sun matinees 2:00 PM
Opening
Night Reception: Following the evening performance Sat, June 8.
Signed Performance: Thurs, June 20
Post-Show Conversations: June 9 (matinee) – Jay Duffer, Director
June 15 (evening) – David MacGregor, Playwright
Ticket Prices: Preview tickets (1 st two shows only): $38
Regular tickets:
Thurs/Fri/Sun eve: $43
Sat mat and eve/Sun: $47
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