By Heather Pilkington, Register Staff Writer
Gainesville Daily Register
Gainesville —
A local actress and her theatrical husband created the business Mister & Mrs. Watson Genius Comedic Duo to bring murder mystery comedies, an entertainment experience and a fundraising event to Gainesville during Depot Days this fall.
The project also showcases the talents of the couple, Jeffrey Watson and wife Kelly Fiore-Watson.
On Saturday Oct. 8, the comedic duo will open their dinner theater with “Buffalo Jack’s Wild West Circus Train of Death” at Fera’s Italian Restaurant. Proceeds will benefit Kelly Fiore-Watson’s new project Junior Gainesville Area Visual Arts (Jr. GAVA), which is under the parent organization GAVA.
Kelly Fiore-Watson said GAVA is a non-profit organization that encourages the visual arts in Cooke County and surrounding areas.
She said she and project partner Joe Conner hope Jr. GAVA will provide instructional programs for the youth of Cooke County that encourage the opportunity to exhibit and sell original artwork.
“Our hope is that we can try to do more public activities for the youth in the beginning that goes beyond just construction paper and glue,” she said. “For example, to study some local architecture and maybe build a cathedral out of Popsicle sticks, or create a movie. There are so many different levels of ‘artistic.’”
She added this program is just getting off the ground, and the dinner theatre play is the couple’s way of earning money toward the cause.
“Even if only a few kids come out at the discounted rate, learn something new and enjoy themselves, I will consider Jr. GAVA a success,” she said.
The show involves a murder mystery in a traveling circus — which is held up at Gainesville’s Santa Fe Depot because the show cannot go on after a rodeo clown named “Jingles” turns up dead.
Kelly Fiore-Watson said the show brings in characters such as Veronica La Phelm, the worlds heaviest trapeze flying girl in all of the world; Gunnar the lion tamer, who works with 100-year-old lions; and Buffalo Jack, played by Jeffrey Watson. Together this group of characters work together to find the murder.
Dinner and the show cost $25 per person, plus gratuity and tip.
The actress said the idea for the comedic duo came after she first introduced the City of Gainesville to her character Wacko Rose, who people may have seen during this summer’s Summer Sound Concert Series. Members of the Main Street Board approached the Watsons to piece together a entertainment show to be held during the same weekend as Depot Days.
The Watsons have combined their new business with two entirely different businesses run by another Gainesville couple Bill and Brenda Willingham: Lost Dog Video Productions and Cherished Memories, both located downtown. Bill Willingham is a videographer and Brenda Willingham is an event coordinator. The four plan to build an event, provide the entertainment and shoot it on video.
For information and tickets to the dinner, call Brenda Willingham at Cherished Memories at (940) 665-0108.
