Fictional character Fanny Bixby, portrayed by actress Adrienne Marquand (center), collects information from a police officer, portrayed by writer and producer Scott Ware (far left), in Murder at the Rancho, co-hosted by the Los Cerritos Neighborhood Association and Rancho Los Cerritos. Also pictured (far right) is Carl Wawrina
-Contributing Writer-
Over 120 guests attended the Murder at the Rancho fundraiser at Rancho Los Cerritos Saturday, Aug. 2. Half the ticket-sale proceeds will be donated to the Rancho, according to Los Cerritos Neighborhood Association (LCNA) Secretary Jeanne Williams. The LCNA hosted the event in collaboration with Rancho Los Cerritos. The purpose of the event was to foster fellowship among the area’s residents and to raise funds for the Rancho.
Staged as a party at Jotham and Margaret Bixby’s rancho at Los Cerritos, Jotham Bixby, portrayed by actor Floyd Phillips, greeted guests at the courtyard entrance, shaking hands in white gloves and white-tie attire. The actors and many guests wore period clothing.
“I liked that the play included the neighborhood in the storyline,” Los Cerritos resident Carol Crawford said.
Scott Ware, writer and producer of the play and a member of the Long Beach Shakespeare Company, spent the first month of his three-month writing process researching the protagonist— Long Beach historical figure Fanny Bixby, one of America’s first policewomen.
While local college students played instrumental music and guests sat down to dinner on the west lawn, an unseen woman screamed. Soon after, Fanny Bixby, portrayed by actress Adrienne Marquand, revealed that a murder had occurred and the guests must help her solve the crime.
“A-ha, it was a short man,” one guest blurts out jokingly in reference to the stab-wound placement.
Ware’s number-one goal was to entertain, and he measured his success by the audience’s engagement.
Actor Mike Austin, who played Lt. Cyrus Latisse, said he was surprised and pleased at how involved the audience was. “I expected fewer people to follow the story,” he said.
Many teams guessed the first murderer, but no team guessed the second.
“I thought adding a second murder would keep the guests entertained,” Ware said. “It’s a tricky line to walk— trying not to confuse the audience and trying not to make it too easy.”
Los Cerritos resident Bob Rosefield said he was confused at some points but that he and his team still guessed the first murderer.
The Friends of Los Cerritos, the committee responsible for organizing LCNA’s social events, organized the Murder at the Rancho fundraiser. Of the three social events held since the committee’s founding in 2011, this was their most ambitious to date, according to committee member Tracy Fielder.
