Parties need guests. Having the right guest list can make or break a soiree. At least, that was the mindset of the Victorian upper class. The skillful mingling of personalities was the job of the hostess, and the job of the theatre director is to do the same with her cast. And what a cast of kooks we have for The Last Garden Party! Salty housekeepers. Drunken generals. Scheming gardeners. Oh my! These actors really reanimate this production from MMP classic to a fresh, funny, and fabulous show to open a new decade for Master Mystery Productions. But enough of us talking about these amazing actors. Let’s let them share their side of the story. Unfurl the guest list and set out the placecards. It’s time for the upstairs (and downstairs) to take the stage on how they developed their colorful characters in this behind-the-scenes blog post.

UPSTAIRS (AND DOWNSTAIRS): The Making of The Last Garden Party 2026 Revival (Part 2)

Phoebe Walliscroft is the young, American second wife of the absent Lord Walliscroft. She is the hostess of this last garden party, but her good intentions are hampered by her nutty new relatives. She is baffled by the eccentricities and the imperviousness to crisis of the British upper class. Her exasperation with their antics, the stress of finding a skeleton in her garden, and the pressure to solve the mystery pushes Phoebe in ways she couldn’t fathom.

Libby Mitchell has been a central figure on local stages since 2021. After first joining MMP in Who’s Who? in Fall of that year, she has performed in Closer to Heaven, Unlucky Seven, Tete-a-Tete, The Sky’s the Limit, Tourist Trap, How to Solve a Murder, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and R+J: Obsession. She won the Skeleton Key Award for Service Above and Beyond for Tourist Trap in 2023 and the Carol Venturi Volunteer of the Year Award from CLOTA in 2024. In 2025, she had a landmark season where she won a Diamond Mask Award for Excellence in Performance for Millie Carraway in Murder at the Red Fez, the Ruby Hand Award for Achievements in Design for Costume Design for Malice in Wonderland, and the Founder’s Award for 2025. Below, Libby gives her thoughts and feelings about reviving the role of Phoebe for a new decade:

“The thing I have most enjoyed about playing Phoebe is how she changes throughout the story. She begins nervous and fully confused by her odd new family, and by the end she is very self-assured, and she may even understand tea or at least her family better after all of Lady Elizabeth’s questionable advice. She has been a very fun character to play so far. One thing that stays the same about her is she is always listening and observing, whether it is listening to her family’s crazy stories or trying to solve the mysteries that come with her new house. I’ve been honored to work with such an amazing cast and directors.”

Mia Mallowan is the ward of Lord Walliscroft who everyone assumes will eventually marry his son, Paul. Impetuous, brash, and strong-willed, Mia is independent and loves it. She is a sassy girl who enjoys playing tricks on her relatives and unleashing a lethal sass against them. But she also has a ruthless side with an undercurrent of greed beneath the pretty Victorian polish.

Elise Bechtel first joined local theatre in 2024 as Cobweb in the sold-out summer production of A Misdummer Night’s Dream for the Community Light Opera and Theatre Association (CLOTA). After winning the CLOTA Robe for her work on that show, she went on to win the Skeleton Key Award, the Ruby Hand Award for set dressing, and the Diamond Mask Award for Diamond LaPore in Murder at the Red Fez 2025 Revival for Master Mystery Productions. She concluded her season as the Cheshire Cat in Malice in Wonderland in July 2025 and as Juliet Capulet in R+J: Obsession in September 2025. Elise will now share how she developed Mia’s character for the show:

“Mia Mallowan is the youngest of the Walliscroft family and was adopted by Lord Walliscroft in her early years. When I first started diving into Mia’s character she seemed very surface level, but as I’ve gotten to know her I can tell you she is anything but that. Mia is smart, expressive, fashionable, graceful, when she wants to be, and brings a splash of color to every room she graces. Now, that color may be sarcasm and crude language, but it’s just as vibrant as any flower at this garden party. Portraying Mia has been an absolute treat and if you look close enough, you just might discover a few of her secrets.”

Lady Elizabeth Margaret Anne Prudence Temperance Charity Bradfordshire-Pierce is is the wife of a socially prominent, but penniless peer, a distant (only genealogically, unfortunately not physically) aunt of the Walliscroft family. A Lady Bracknell-esque character, she has an extensive, almost encyclopedic knowledge of the British aristocracy, social customs, biting remarks, and the history and genealogy of the Walliscroft family. But Lady Elizabeth may not be what she seems…or what she claims.

Samantha Small makes her MMP debut as Lady Elizabeth in The Last Garden Party 2026 Revival. Although she hasn’t tread the boards since high school performances as Lydia Bennett in Pride and Prejudice and Olive Madison in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple (Female Version), Samantha’s talent has shone in rehearsals for her first Master Mystery Production. We are so excited to welcome her into our growing family. Now we’ll let Samantha give us her thoughts on creating the unstoppable force known as Lady Elizabeth:

“Elizabeth sees herself as a chess master pretending she doesn’t know how to play checkers. She uses her supposed preoccupation with etiquette and ridiculous aristocratic airs to mask her true obsession. In her mind, she deploys pawns of protocol and rooks of refinement to confound her opponents, all while shielding her strategy beneath her fluttering parasol. Although she is indeed sly, she errs in overestimating her own intelligence while underestimating those around her, especially Phoebe. Paradoxically, the closer she draws to her goal, the more careless and reckless she grows. In portraying Elizabeth, I’ve tried to lean into the pompous character she’s created for herself while allowing, with more and more frequency as the action progresses, her actual greed and ruthlessness to expose themselves. What is her goal, you may ask? You’ll have to see the show to find out.”

Paul Walliscroft is Lord Walliscroft’s son from his previous marriage who is, as is the way of these stories, around the same age as his stepmother. A scholarly man, he is the epitome of cool British reserve that scoffs at any “ridiculous fancies” such as the end of the British Empire or a body in the croquet lawn. He tolerates Phoebe but is not enthused at his father’s second marriage.

Justin Small makes both his Master Mystery Productions and his stage debut as Paul Walliscroft in The Last Garden Party; or How a Lady Keeps Her Poise Around Corpses this spring. While new to the world of theatre, he has shown a great deal of talent and energy onstage, and we can’t wait to share it with out audiences in this production. Also, he and Samantha have another suprise: They get to join the rare distinction of being one of the few spouses to act alongside each other in an MMP show. Justin let us know more about how Paul came to life for him and for the stage in our 2026 revival:

“Paul embodies the full suite of stereotypical British aristocracy. A wit dryer than any martini. A near spiritual devotion to the majesty of British Imperialism. And a perpetually upturned nose balanced atop a lip stiff enough to weather any and all. Except, perhaps, the onslaught of scathing taunts from his secret love interest. Or even the slightest hint of actual danger, for that matter. To behold the ego of one so supremely convinced of his own intellectual prowess is to suffer the truly insufferable. And as any who’ve known ‘a Paul’ for long enough in their lives can attest, it’s a rare and often hilarious treat to watch them pick a fight with reality. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him. True, he’s a coward, and an obnoxious blowhard with an incurable superiority complex. But he does have a heart, and is arguably the closest thing to a voice of reason in his ‘family.’ As a recovering know-it-all who also loves to hear himself talk, playing Paul has come pretty naturally to me. There’s something very authentic, and dare I say aspirational, about the way he refuses to surrender his dignity in the face of embarrassing defeat.”

General Major is an obscure uncle to Lord Walliscroft with an equally obscure military history. An alcoholic shell of his former self, he is constantly wandering through life in a haze and trying to find a way to smuggle booze into the garden party despite the hawk-like scrutiny of Lady Elizabeth. However, he still possesses an ounce of cunning and can unleash a smattering of sharp, dry observations.

Calvin Johnson is an acting legend who has won the Diamond Mask Award for Excellence in Performance a record-pulverizing ten times for Henri in Eat Cake, Rusty Clementine in Foul Play, Dr. John Forsythe in Woman in the Walls, Basil Bremerton in Mum’s the Word, Bernard St. Bernard in Who’s Who?, Angel Archer in Closer to Heaven, Evan Landon in Close Encounters of the Hairy Kind 2022 Revival, Yves Dufort in Tete-a-Tete, the Red Queen in Malice in Wonderland, and Basil Bremerton in Visions of Sugarplums. He has also won the Skeleton Key Award for Ex Luna, the Carol Venturi Volunteer of the Year Award for the Community Light Opera and Theatre Association’s 2020 season, and the MMP Founder’s Award for 2021. He recently gave masterpiece performances as Leonard Vole in Witness for the Prosecution, as Theseus and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and as Romeo in R+J: Obsession at CLOTA. Calvin shares his thoughts on General Major:

“General Major is definitely a man of the world. Having been in dozens of campaigns, he knows how to fight in a good battle, and how to enjoy a strong drink. While he may seem like a washed up drunkard, he’s also not someone you want to anger. The fires of battle still rage in him, and all he needs is a spark!”

Mrs. Mullet is the salty, smart-mouthed housekeeper at the Walliscroft estate, who generally dislikes everyone around her, especially the nonsensical relatives who show up for the garden party. Never one to mince words, she is always ready and willing to lay down the line and tell people off. Re-hired by Phoebe, she runs the estate with extreme precision and forthrightness.

K. Pearl Woolam has been performing on stages across California since she was eight years old. Her joyful journey performing Shakespeare began with Maria in Twelfth Night over 30 years ago, and most recently she played Dew Drop Fairy in CLOTA’s 2024 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and as Juliet’s Nurse in R+J: Obsession in Fall 2025. Other recent strong roles include Ouiser Boudreaux in Steel Magnolias, Big Red in Close Encounters of the Hairy Kind, and more. She directed the summer 2025 production of J.M. Barrie’s Dear Brutus for CLOTA. She won CLOTA’s Florence Green Production Award in 2010. The Last Garden Party marks her Master Mystery Productions debut. Pearl give us insights into her inspirations for portraying the indomitable Mrs. Mullet:

“I’m the perfect servant. I know when they’ll be hungry, and the food is ready. I know when they’ll be tired, and the bed is turned down. I know it before they know it themselves.” Mrs Wilson, Gosford Park

“When approaching Mrs Mullet, I considered all the fictional housekeepers that I loved, from Gosford Park to Downton Abbey, from Wuthering Heights to The Secret Garden. It was the latter two that inspired Mrs Mullet’s Yorkshire roots. Mrs Mullet passes through the lives of the family she serves with invisible precision. Below stairs, however, she is  taskmaster,  and (she believes) a maternal force for the other servants.”

Eloise is Phoebe’s young, impressionable parlourmaid. She’s a sweet girl who likes her equally young mistress, acting almost like best friends or sisters instead of servant and mistress, much to the horror of Mrs. Mullet and Lady Elizabeth. She has a vibrant imagination that can get carried away as she is very suggestible to atmosphere and romantic notions. She devours penny dreadfuls and thrillers as she wishes her life could be as exciting as those books. Which can put her in danger when a real body turns up in the croquet lawn…

Allison Mitchell started acting in 2021 as Miss Meddler in Who’s Who? and has appeared in numerous shows since then. For MMP, she has performed in Unlucky Seven, Tete-a-Tete, The Sky’s the Limit, Tourist Trap, How to Solve a Murder, Murder at the Red Fez, and Malice in Wonderland. For CLOTA, she appeared in The Gift of the Magi, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ‘Tis the Season to Believe, Dear Brutus, and R+J: Obsession. In December 2025, she won the Diamond Mask Award for her performance as Astrid Thane in Visions of Sugarplums. Now we’ll let Allison speak about her views on Eloise:

“Eloise has been working at the estate for a couple of years and at the off chance that she isn’t working, she likes to spend her time reading thriller books wishing for a little more excitement in her life. Ever since Phoebe moved in she has enjoyed getting to know her and becoming friends.”

Thomas Hangsby is the undergardener at the Walliscroft estate. Ambitious, proud, but not altogether too sharp in the head, he has grand designs and schemes of rising to the highest possible status in the new industrial age and middle class forming in Victorian England. He resents working as an undergardener (not even the head gardener) and would like nothing more than to stick it to the upper crusts…while also wanting to do anything to become like them and live the fancy and well-heeled life. He gets the rest of the staff into rather…sticky situations.

Janis Kunz is a superstar member of MMP who has won two Skeleton Key Awards for Eat Cake and Malice in Wonderland, three Diamond Masks for Polly the Parrot in Mutiny on the Sea Witch, Captain Wallis in Close Encounters of the Hairy Kind, and the Conductor in How to Solve a Murder, four Ruby Hands for Puppetry for Mutiny on the Sea Witch, Prop Design for Woman in the Walls, Costume Design for Closer to Heaven, and Set Design for The Sky’s the Limit, the Partners in Crime Award for Service in Writing for penning How to Solve a Murder, and the Founder’s Award from MMP for 2019. She also co-wrote Malice in Wonderland and stars as Emma Emerson in MMP’s YouTube paranormal mystery series, Regions Beyond. She is the first performer in MMP history to win every award offered by the company. Janis gives us a window into how she developed Thomas Hangsby for the stage:

“I’m having a lot of fun developing this character! Thomas grouses about the aristocracy, but he also envies their wealth and leisurely lifestyle. He is not comfortable in his position as undergardener, always taking orders from somebody, and I wanted to portray that in restlessness – he is always moving or looking for an angle. I also want to incorporate physicality to his humor, similar to Hugh Laurie’s unscrupulous Jasper Badun. Voicing Thomas’ lower-class accent is enjoyable too; I adore doing accents! Even if any of Thomas’ schemes to get rich worked, there’s no way he’d ever pass himself off as an aristocrat; he is too entrenched in his down-to-earth, uneducated upbringing. And that’s been good fun to bring to life, from his disheveled costume to his unrefined demeanor.”

The Body in the Croquet Lawn would like to express its condolences for interrupting these charming festivities with its unexpected presence. Showing up uninvited isn’t the most proper etiquette. However, it would very much like it if the audience could work most diligently on untangling its murder and apprehending the culprit.

Below, we let the Body have a chance to share some thoughts on being a stage icon after so many years of Master Mystery Productions:

“Wow. Ten years since I appeared onstage as the Body in the Croquet Lawn. Who would have thought that I would get the chance to reprise this role again? I hope no one minds the little bit of work I’ve had done since then. Not many people know this, but I made my stage debut in the sandbox of clues during 2015’s Hello Out There. I have had the pleasure of appearing in other shows like Murder at the Broken Heart Mine in 2017 to Romeo and Juliet in 2025. But I will always have a soft spot for the Body in The Last Garden Party, and I look forward to trading the boards again. Hope they’ll save me some tea this time!”

What a sterling cast! They are sure to sparkle on the set of The Last Garden Party. And what sort of setting will we place these jewels? Well, while Victorians loved looking at nature, they preferred it under glass, stuffed, and manicured. They didn’t like all that fresh air and sunshine and going outside though. See how we plan to turn our venue into our own vision of a Victorian conservatory (and cabinet of curiosities) in the next behind-the-scenes blog post–Cabinet of Curiosities: The Making of The Last Garden Party (Part 3)!

And remember to get your tickets! They are on sale here or at Red Rock Books. See you at the show!

–Master Mystery Productions