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Life Deconstructed: ‘Women-pause’ not for sissies or weak-hearted

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Vouchers will help seniors in Luzerne, Wyoming counties purchase vegetables

<p>NUREMBERG &#8212; As far as Bensonhurst is concerned, something as simple as a chair being a half inch out of place can make him &#8220;storm into a room and think the room is a wreck,&#8221; said Bobby Maso, of Freeland, who portrays the fussy butler in the Nuremberg Players&#8217; production of &#8220;Murder&#8217;s in the Heir&#8221; this weekend.</p><p>&#8220;After I move the chair, I give a huge sigh of relief,&#8221; Maso said with a laugh.</p><p>One thing&#8217;s for sure. If Bensonhurst turns out to be the culprit who kills billionaire Simon Starkweather, Maso pointed out, &#8220;He won&#8217;t leave a mess.&#8221;</p><p>Hmm. That seems to leave out any sort of knifing or bludgeoning &#8212; if the butler does the deed &#8212; in the comic murder mystery, which the Nuremberg Players will present in their home theater, a former church on Hazle Street in the small town of Nuremberg, 12 miles west of Hazleton.</p><p>But various other weapons &#8212; and suspects &#8212; abound in this show about a gruff, condescending man who has recently changed his mind about how to dispose of his considerable wealth.</p><p>&#8220;There are two wills,&#8221; said Tisha Demshock, of Sugarloaf Township, who portrays Lois, the rich man&#8217;s lawyer. &#8220;In the old will, which becomes invalid, each member of his household staff is due to get $1 million, and the family members get a lot more. In the new will that I&#8217;m writing up, they all get less.&#8221;</p><p>Because the lawyer happens to benefit from the new will, she won&#8217;t turn out to be the murderer. That would be too preposterous.</p><p>But, any of nine other characters, from the &#8220;temperamental cook&#8221; to the &#8220;playboy nephew&#8221; to the &#8220;Southern belle niece&#8221; might have done it. The &#8220;stern nurse,&#8221; &#8220;shy maid&#8221; and &#8220;dour housekeeper&#8221; also are in the running, along with the &#8220;surly handyman.&#8221;</p><p>As director Denise Steibing, of Conyngham, explained, the audience will decide the identity of the murderer in each show.</p><p>&#8220;Usually, with a murder mystery, people are trying to guess, guess, guess. Here, they actually get to determine the murderer by voting on the ballot that will be in their program. At intermission, we&#8217;ll count the votes and see who the murderer has to be.&#8221;</p><p>Steibing, who has been recuperating from a broken bone, is glad she was recently able to remove the hard boot she&#8217;d been wearing through several weeks of the-show-must-go-on rehearsals. &#8220;I&#8217;m sitting here with ice on my leg,&#8221; she said in a telephone interview.</p><p>She&#8217;s sure audiences will enjoy the humor of the show, and added that one lucky audience member, whose name will be chosen in a raffle, will win tickets to the Nuremberg Players&#8217; next production, &#8220;The Velveteen Rabbit.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Which character is destined to knock off the old billionaire? Perhaps it will be different in each showing of the Nuremberg Players&#8217; production of &#8216;Murder&#8217;s in the Heir.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_nurembergplayers.cast_.cmyk_.jpg</photo0><caption0>Which character is destined to knock off the old billionaire? Perhaps it will be different in each showing of the Nuremberg Players&#8217; production of &#8216;Murder&#8217;s in the Heir.&#8217; </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Murder&#8217;s in the Heir&#8217;</p><p><strong>Who: </strong>Presented by Nuremberg Players</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>Nuremberg Players&#8217; home theater, 283 Hazle St., Nuremberg</p><p><strong>Reservations: </strong>877-718-7894</p><p><strong>Tickets</strong>: $10</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Audience members will decide who committed murder in Nuremberg Players’ show