Grove Players present

Fridays and Saturdays, November 4, 5, 11 and 12, 2005, at 8PM

Sundays, November 6 and 13, 2005, at 2PM

Click here to view the complete program.

Click here to view the show poster.

Performances at The Lincoln Center, 935 Maple Street, Downers Grove

George M. Cohan, the man who would become known as America’s “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” found great success on Broadway with this humorous and hard-boiled mystery thriller that promises to keep you guessing until the end.

The Cast

The Cast and Crew of Seven Keys to Baldpate

	Magee explains to the caretakers, Mr. Quimby and his wife, that the owner of the Baldpate Inn has bet him $5,000 that he can't write a novel in 24 hours. They confirm that he has the ONLY key to the inn.
But he doesn't have the only key to Baldpate! Bland enters and threatens to shoot Magee, but ends up uplocked in the upstairs bedroom.
	Mary Norton, a newspaper reporter, and her chaperone Mrs. Rhodes arrive with their own key, hysterical at seeing Bland jump out a window and fleeing.
Peters the hermit and ersatz ghost enters with his key and proclaims his hatred for mankind and women too. He disappears after they hear a pistol shot outside.
	Myra Thornhill, dressed in white, unlocks the door and goes to the safe. She tries her feminine wiles on Magee to get her hands on the $200,00 locked in the safe, but fails.
With the women upstairs, Peters reappears and opens the safe. Mayor Cargan uses his key to enter with his henchman Lou Max, grabs the money and throws Peters in the basement.
	Hayden, the street-car president, lets himself in with yet another key and meets Magee.
Magee, now in control, sends Mary and Mrs Rhodes to turn the money over to the authorities. Various schemes and motives are discussed now that six of the seven keys to Baldpate have been discovered.
	After a scuffle, Magee loses control of the situation and is locked in the linen closet.
Lou Max shoots and kills Myra. Bland and Cargan put the body in the bedroom and decide to frame Magee for the murder.
	Police Chief Kennedy arrives and is dumbfounded by the description of the night's proceedings.
Mary returns and Kennedy sweetly asks her to step upstairs to protect her delicate ears from his questioning of the men.
	Mrs Rhodes returns. More mischief and mayhem erupt and the money ends up ablaze in the fireplace. The owner of the inn arrives with key #7 and explains the evening's events weren't real. The characters were actors from the local theater company; and the money burned and Myra's "death" were fake.
Magee asks Mary to prove that at least love at first sight is real.
	The Quimbys return to find the "Seven Keys to Baldpate" manuscript completed. Magee states that nothing happened all night, except what is found in the manuscript. On the phone he tells the owner to pay up, "this thing is going to sell a million copies."