Mahan To Play ‘Sherlock’ In ‘Hound’

September 12, 2010 Contributor

OSWEGO, NY – The next Oswego Players show reaches back to pluck an old chestnut from the archives with Troy Pepper’s presentation of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”

This eerie tale of a monster preying hound has thrilled audiences for decades with its menacing story of inherited doom.

Rehearsing a scene from “The Hound of the Baskervilles” from left are Peter Mahan as Holmes, D. J. Russell as Dr. Watson, Norman Berlin III as Jack and Bobby Fontana as the doomed heir Sir Henry.
Rehearsing a scene from “The Hound of the Baskervilles” from left are Peter Mahan as Holmes, D. J. Russell as Dr. Watson, Norman Berlin III as Jack and Bobby Fontana as the doomed heir Sir Henry.

Playing the plum role of Sherlock Holmes is Peter Mahan, recently seen as McMurphy in Bobby Fontana’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

It’s not surprising that Mahan is interested in theatre.  His parents met during a Brockport State production of “Mister Roberts” in the late 1950s.

In fact, his entire family loves theatre.

His wife, Kelly, has the part of Lady Agatha in “Hound” and his two eldest children, Bryana and David, are acting and directing in Shakespeare shows at Houghton College.

Mahan is a high school art teacher in the Hannibal school district.

Pepper has cast D. J. Russell in the role of Sherlock’s well intentioned sidekick and sometimes foil, Dr. Watson.

Russell has been busy with varying roles since arriving in the Oswego area. Players’ audiences may remember his antics as Louis in last summer’s “The Lady Who Cried Fox.” He was most recently seen in “Twelve Angry Men” and his resume includes a host of stage and film experiences.

He once spent 30 minutes with Sir Anthony Hopkins on location filming “The Road to Wellville.”

When Hopkins asked why he seemed so nervous, Russell responded, “Sir Anthony, you were Hannibal Lecter.”

Hopkins smiled and replied, “That’s my job.”

Russell is superintendent, Nuclear Operations Training at Entergy’s James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Station in Scriba.

He lives in Oswego with his wife, Susan, son, Skyler, and daughter, Morgan.

“The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Tim Kelly and recently updated, will be playing in the Frances Marion Brown Theatre in the Fort Ontario Arts Complex Oct. 8 and 9 and 15 and 16 at 8 p.m.

There will be a matinee on Oct. 17 at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices are: adults – $10; seniors – $8; students – $7.

Reservations will soon be available at the Players Box Office. missing or outdated ad config

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