Story:
Finally, the curtain fell. Seemingly from a great distance, the incessant whispers continued, the debate on the age of the mysterious black-clothed figure: a debate that will haunt mankind forever. As the players came out to take a bow, I found myself whispering the word "good" and could not help but smile and laugh.
Friday was the final performance of the Titanic Players' successful production of Tennessee Williams's five-act musical "The Order of Things." Each act is based upon one of the first five enigmas found on the Fourth Dimension web page, with the main character of each act played by a different actor or actress. Purists may (and have) turned their noses on some of the liberties taken by this group... especially the gender changes... for instance, the famous bartender scene has been adapted for a female lead role, and a Philadelphian female at that... however, after viewing this musical, one can't help but fall in love with the new quirks.
The cast itself is perhaps as paradoxical as the play they perform. They claim to have been close friends for a long time, but each comes from a different part of America; one from each of the five largest cities, to be exact. Perhaps to further accentuate their difference, their costumes are all a different color, each of them choosing one of the five colors of the Olympic Games flag.
Eric tried to downplay these concerns. "My word! I hope I speak for all of us when I say we are a team more than separate individuals," he said with his West Coast optimism. "We aren't obsessed with saying that one can do something bigger than you or whatever. We have pushed all that stupidity out of the road and understand that mutual respect and admiration are what are important in life. I even let someone else have the color red even though I wanted it for myself. I think I gave it to ... whoever it was played the Arab Sheikh... no, wait, no I didn't, it was someone else. Never mind, I lied. "
But some friction was evident in an anecdote told by Jennifer as she left the building with the yellow-garbed person. "Melissa was passing out parts ... we kind of unofficially appointed her leader... and she told Sam he could have either the hotel manager or the sheikh... but he refused to take either of those ... and, well, in the end he won. He didn't play either of them." When Sam was asked to verify this story, he simply threw down his blue gloves and drove off without them in his blue Mustang.
Even more enigmatic was Danny's comment: "The person wearing green is from the city that is two cities east of the person who played the prisoner waiting to be hung." This is perhaps a deeper comment than we might expect from a Texan.
Well, the fact is that the show is over. We gather here to say our goodbyes and you bet your life that we raise our glass to the late great "Order of Things". And, although this reviewer as well as adoring fan Sabrina both give this production five stars, I cannot help but wonder what city each performer is from, what color each wore, which enigma each portrayed, and perhaps most of all, what is their deal!!???
Hint: the five largest cities in the US are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia
Enigma: The question is what the reporter wonders in the last sentence of the story.