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Minor League Baseball: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre falls to Syracuse

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$1.5M PHARE funding announced for local affordable housing projects

<p>At the end of a play based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle&#8217;s &#8220;The Sign of Four,&#8221; Sherlock Holmes goes to a drawer and takes out a needle.</p><p>The arrogant detective with the brilliant mind and poor social skills has just learned that his friend, John Watson, is going to move out and marry Mary Morstan.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s an implication that he (Sherlock) is going to do some cocaine,&#8221; said Lou Bisignani, of Scranton, who has twice directed dramatist Dennis Rosa&#8217;s &#8220;Sherlock Holmes and the Curse of the Sign of Four.&#8221;</p><p>If you visit the Providence Playhouse in Scranton this weekend, Bisignani and The Actors Circle will show you what happens next, several months later, with Sherlock, Watson, Mary and assorted youngsters all doing their part to help solve &#8220;The White Chapel Murders.&#8221;</p><p>First, Mary and Watson have to rouse Sherlock &#8212; and give him some nourishment.</p><p>&#8220;Sherlock is practically unconscious from not eating, from days or weeks on cocaine,&#8221; said Bisignani, who wrote the play and is directing its debut. &#8220;They give him some soup and meat pies and explain what&#8217;s going on. Watson and Mary think he&#8217;s the only one who can help (solve the case). He puts on his coat and they all go down to the street and it&#8217;s off and running.&#8221;</p><p>The play opens in 1888, when a real serial killer known as Jack the Ripper was committing his nefarious crimes in London.</p><p>&#8220;Putting (Rosa&#8217;s) book and reality together, that&#8217;s when my play opens,&#8221; Bisignani said, adding that Jack the Ripper and Sherlock&#8217;s nemesis, Moriarity, both appear in the play, along with Sherlock&#8217;s landlady, Mrs. Hudson, plus a boy known as &#8220;little Wiggins,&#8221; a girl who pretends to be blind as she begs in the street, and various other children who may come dangerously close to a sadistic murderer.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a little girl who has her arm twisted by Jack the Ripper,&#8221; Bisignani said. &#8220;Her bigger sister isn&#8217;t blind but she pretends to be. &#8216;I&#8217;m blind and desperate,&#8217; she says. &#8216;Please buy my flowers.&#8217; The little sister leads her around and the bigger sister is going to show her how to beg.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;When she asks &#8216;Can I have a few bob, sir?&#8217; he says, &#8216;I can make a meat pie out of you.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Audience members who have seen local productions of &#8220;Sherlock Holmes and The Curse of the Sign of Four&#8221; may recognize a certain continuity in &#8220;The White Chapel Murders.&#8221; Bisignani has cast the same actor, Scott Rave, as Sherlock and the same actress, Kelly Kapacs, as Mary Morstan.</p><p>In some stories that continue the adventures of characters Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created, Bisignani said, &#8220;Sherlock Holmes has long monologues, and Watson just says things like &#8216;how the deuce did you do it?&#8217; Mary just stands around and is grateful Watson wanted to marry her.&#8221;</p><p>If you come to see his play - there&#8217;s one performance left, at 2 p.m. today <ins>July 14</ins> &#8212; you&#8217;ll see Bisignani has given Watson and his &#8220;very outspoken, early feminist&#8221; bride a much greater share of the action.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The cast of &#8216;The White Chapel Murders,&#8217; which is playing at the Providence Playhouse in Scranton, includes, first row: Jacob Dean Bohenek, Michael Kapacs-Fenton, Geanna Kirchner, Mary Jule Kapacs. Second row: Bernard M. Ott, Amanda VanBuskirk, Susan Parrick, Grace Kapacs, Kelly Kapacs, Scott Rave, Mark Fryer, Dominic Azzarelli, and Nunzio Caccamo. Cast members not shown include Carol Davis, Emily Kapacs-Fenton, Molly Kapacs-Fenton, Corey Kelly, Matthew Kirchner, Lorrie Loughney, and Justin O&#8217;Hearn. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_Cast-grey.jpg</photo0><caption0>The cast of &#8216;The White Chapel Murders,&#8217; which is playing at the Providence Playhouse in Scranton, includes, first row: Jacob Dean Bohenek, Michael Kapacs-Fenton, Geanna Kirchner, Mary Jule Kapacs. Second row: Bernard M. Ott, Amanda VanBuskirk, Susan Parrick, Grace Kapacs, Kelly Kapacs, Scott Rave, Mark Fryer, Dominic Azzarelli, and Nunzio Caccamo. Cast members not shown include Carol Davis, Emily Kapacs-Fenton, Molly Kapacs-Fenton, Corey Kelly, Matthew Kirchner, Lorrie Loughney, and Justin O&#8217;Hearn. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_Kelly-Kapacs-and-Mark-Fryer.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mary Morstan, portrayed by Kelly Kapacs, has agreed to marry Dr. John Watson, portrayed by Mark Fryer, and the two will help Sherlock Holmes solve &#8216;The White Chapel Murders&#8217; in a new, original play by Lou Bisignani, of Scranton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_Kelly-Kapacs-and-Mark-Fryer.jpg</photo1><caption1>Mary Morstan, portrayed by Kelly Kapacs, has agreed to marry Dr. John Watson, portrayed by Mark Fryer, and the two will help Sherlock Holmes solve &#8216;The White Chapel Murders&#8217; in a new, original play by Lou Bisignani, of Scranton. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_scott-and-mark.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scott Rave plays Sherlock Holmes and Mark Fryer plays Dr. John Watson in &#8216;The White Chapel Murders,&#8217; presented this weekend at Providence Playhouse in Scranton. &#8216;White Chapel is a section of London,&#8217; author/director Lou Bisignani said. &#8216;Like Green Ridge is a section of Scranton.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_scott-and-mark.jpg</photo2><caption2>Scott Rave plays Sherlock Holmes and Mark Fryer plays Dr. John Watson in &#8216;The White Chapel Murders,&#8217; presented this weekend at Providence Playhouse in Scranton. &#8216;White Chapel is a section of London,&#8217; author/director Lou Bisignani said. &#8216;Like Green Ridge is a section of Scranton.&#8217; </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Original play continues Sherlock Holmes story</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</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;The White Chapel Murders&#8217;</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 2 p.m. July 14 </p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Providence Playhouse, 1256 Providence Road, Scranton</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $12, $10, $8</p><p><strong>Reservations:</strong> 570-343-9797</p></factboxMeta></div>