From the Wings: Montesano Drama Club presents a murder mystery dinner, Driftwood Players exceed fundraising goal

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 21, 2026

For Lemon Hill Café & Bookstore’s dinner service on April 15, their dining space became Glas Manson as the Montesano Drama Club presented the murder mystery An Irish Murder at Glas Manson.

Last year, the Drama Club did a showcase and this is the first time they’ve performed a murder mystery.

“I’ve never been to one before, I’m excited,” said one attendee, while another commented, “I’ve been looking forward to this night for a long time.”

During the three-course dinner, the community members watched the students perform as the characters they were assigned, which included reporter, hotel owner and doctor, to determine who killed Liam O’Conner. Erin Riley, the advisor for the drama club, shared that students picked the 1950s setting and styled their costumes. “They were totally excited and down for [doing this],” Riley said.

And when the murderer was revealed and the other clues of the mystery announced, the audience enthusiastically clapped for the students. A portion of the proceeds from this sold-out event will go toward supporting the Drama Club’s production of Anastasia. It can cost several thousand dollars to stage a production, particularly a musical, and it was “so nice” for the Lemon Hill Cafe & Bookstore to host this event, Riley said.

The Montesano Drama Club will stage Anastasia on May 8-10 at the Montesano Jr/High School, 303 North Church Street. For the performances on May 8 and 9, doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and show starts at 7:00 p.m. On May 10, the doors open at 1:30 p.m. and the show starts at 2:00 p.m.

Driftwood Players exceed fundraising goal

With the lighting and sound having been upgraded in the Driftwood Theatre, the 200+ seats were next on the list to upgrade. Earlier this year, Driftwood Players announced the Sue Keltner Buy a Seat Campaign, with the goal of raising $30,000 by June 1, 2026, to match an anonymous donation of $30,000.

Although there is still a month and a half left until this deadline, “we’ve raised enough money to pay for the seats, which is fabulous,” said Brad Duffy, president of Driftwood Players.

Thus far, they have raised over $40,000. Although they have exceeded the fundraising goal, there are seats still available for naming through the campaign. In addition to the donor’s name, the name of a Driftwood legend will also be added to the seat.

The 194 seats will be installed in August, which will be fewer than the current amount, but the seats will be more comfortable.

“We’ve had lots of fun picking what the color was going to be,” Duffy said. “The company that’s doing our seats are a very well-known company that has very good history of having a very nice product.”

The seats will be installed in time for the champagne opener this fall. Another upgrade that audience members will notice when purchasing tickets for this opening performance is being able to select their seats.

Having met their fundraising match and but with the fundraising campaign still open through June 1, Driftwood Players are looking to cross another item off the to-do list – replacing the carpet. It’s a roughly $35,000 project, and they have applied for a Grays Harbor Community Foundation grant to offset the costs.

“It’s been very rewarding how people have stepped up,” said Duffy. “Even though we do a fall champagne opener every year, which is where we get most of our money for running the productions throughout the year, they’ve been very generous at stepping up and helping us do this matching grant.”

Elma Drama Club stages Once Upon a Mattress

This past weekend, the Elma Drama Club performed Once Upon a Mattress.

Upcoming performances

May

Matilda – Driftwood Players

120 E 3rd St, Aberdeen

May 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 22-23 at 7:30 p.m.

May 3, 10, 17, 24 at 2 p.m.

https://main.aberdeendriftwood.com/

Once Upon a Mattress – Aberdeen Drama Club

Aberdeen High School, 410 N G St, Aberdeen

May 1, 8,9 at 7:00 p.m.

May 3 and 10 at 3:00 p.m.

Anastasia – Montesano Drama Club

Montesano Jr/High School, 303 North Church Street

May 8,9 at 7:00 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m.

May 10 at 2:00 p.m., doors open at 1:30 p.m.

Harvey – Stage West Community Theatre

Ocean Shores Lions Club, 832 Ocean Shores Blvd NW

May 8-9, 15-16 at 7 p.m.

May 10, 17 at 2 p.m.

https://www.stagewestcommunitytheatre.org/

Highlights from Carmen – Grays Harbor Opera Workshop

Bishop Center for Performing Arts, 1620 Edward P Smith Dr, Aberdeen

May 23 at 7:30 p.m.