This will be the 13th year for the Wild West Extravaganza normally held at Saddle West, but things have changed and this year’s event will be held Oct. 4-6 in Petrack Park.
An institutional part of the festivities has always included the Shadow Mountain Community Players melodrama presentation which will be staged this year in the Bob Ruud Community Center. The play will be performed Friday and Saturday evenings, and there will be a matinee on Sunday.
The play, “Money in the Bank or … It’s All Your Vault,” by M.K. O’Roark, is the sad tale of a missing bank owner, J. P. Moneylender of the Last Territorial Bank and Telegraph Company.
He is presumed dead. His sweet, young daughter Marion and her step-mother Hilregard Moneylender have taken over the running of the bank, despite collection notices from rival banker, dastardly Smedley Chetum and his gal Selina Eyeful.
Plot twists unfurl like a pack of ramen noodles as stalwart hero Iram Goodfellow tries to save the day. Do the eyes in that portrait really follow you? Will Smedley ever get his ice cream? Will Marion get her ring?
Shadow Mountain Player Carlton McCaslin said, “Never fear. There will still be much booing and cheering and throwing of popcorn,” even though the play is being staged indoors and not a tent in the parking lot.
Last year, howling winds threatened to bring down that tent and almost destroyed the props, but ever-ready cast members and director Laurie McCaslin pulled together pieces of the set and moved the play inside to the Saddle West Showroom.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. Oct. 4 and 5 for the sing-a-long, the show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Pahrump Community Library or at the door on the day of the show. The Sunday matinee opens at 1 p.m., with the show starting at 2 p.m. Tickets for Sunday are only $5. For more information call 775-727-6145.