Remember the board game “Clue,” where players had to identify the murderer? It was Colonel Mustard in the library with a candlestick.
Villager Bernard Moran has a new take on the game based in theater improv – improvisation by the actors without a script – where the outcome of every performance is different.
It springs from a short story in his recently published book, “Love and Treachery in Palm Beach 3,” which features the four adult children of a wealthy, elderly Palm Beach resident. The children have gathered in Palm Beach to discuss their father’s lack of a will despite his imminent death. Each of the children covet their father’s money and are afraid that it will go to their father’s nurse-companion, Mrs. Noonan.
They are assisted by a family lawyer and a New York police detective – transplanted to Palm Beach – in a finale reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel where the suspicious characters are brought together, each with a motive and an opportunity to murder the father, and it’s up to the detective to determine the guilty party.
“Murder by Improv” will have three performances at St. Georges Episcopal Church on Jan. 11, 14 and 15 by The Actor’s Theatre Lab directed by Dean Corbett. Moran, as well as being the creator, will play the role of “The Older Brother.”
“The great thing about improv,” he says, “is that it’s easy. When you’re young it’s very easy to learn lines. But when you get older, it gets difficult and creates a lot of anxiety. With improv, you don’t have to learn lines. In fact, the dialogue and ending are different every time we do it.”
Moran began acting in prep school.
“I had a small part in ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner,’” he said.
At Trinity College, he took on the role of King Claudius in “Hamlet,” among others, and was an officer of the dramatic society. By contrast, he also captained the college’s squash/rackets team during his junior and senior years and also was a Fort Lauderdale 55-and-over champion in both singles and doubles.
Today, the 82-year-old Moran, who splits his time between the Village of Piedmont and Palm Beach, has moved onto pickleball and plays at least four times a week at Mulberry Grove Recreation Center.
“In tennis, if you play someone young, they’re going to blast you right off the court,” he says. “We have a very nice pickleball group who are extremely pleasant and not super competitive.”
Born the oldest son (he had an older sister), Bernard’s family lived in Manhattan and owned a ship repair and overhaul business.
“We’re all very different,” he says. “My sister was a Palm Beach matron, one brother was a stock broker and the other brother a jazz musician.”
For most of his working life, Bernard was an advertising sales representative – mostly in New York – but he ended up in Fort Lauderdale.
“I used to take the subway to work and there was always this very pretty, blonde lady who would come racing down the stairs at the last minute,” he says. “We started talking and she asked if I was married – I had been married previously – and if I had ever thought about getting married again. She also asked if I had ever thought of moving to Florida.”
He laughs while adding: “Well, you know what happened. We were married and moved to Fort Lauderdale.”
The marriage didn’t last but Bernard’s love of Florida has persisted for more than 40 years. And he also began a long fascination with the people and lifestyle of nearby Palm Beach.
“I’ve never actually lived in Palm Beach but I spent a lot of time and have lots of relatives there,” he says.
The allure of Palm Beach has resulted in three books of short stories based on the foibles and fashions of the residents. They are available on Amazon.
“Palm Beach is a very parochial place with its own rules and values,” Bernard says. “Old money, new money – money is everything. Everybody drives expensive cars and they all dress well. Both men and women wear lime green and pink. Men wear Gucci shoes and no socks.”
He smiles mischievously. “One time my sister wasn’t invited to this party and I said, ‘Is it that important?’ ‘Well, it is if you live in Palm Beach,’ was her answer.
“Needless to say,” Bernard continues, referring to characters in his short stories, “drinking can be a problem. A lot of the time they are out every night of the week at a function or hosting one. They have AA meetings at a beautiful church but no one from Palm Beach goes there because they’re afraid they’ll know everyone in the room.
Instead, they go to AA meetings in West Palm where they’ll only know a few people. The point is that in Palm Beach, you cannot be anonymous.”
One of his stories is about the frustrations of a non-drinking Palm Beacher on a “booze cruise.”
Getting to Florida’s Friendliest Hometown resulted from meeting a Villager at a random tennis game in Fort Lauderdale.
“We needed a fourth for a game and this man walked in and played with us,” Bernard says. “Afterward, he told me about The Villages. I was getting fed up with Fort Lauderdale – driving is a nightmare and everyone seems tense and uptight.”
Bernard likes the different lifestyles and travels back and forth.
“I like the variety and you couldn’t find two more different places,” he says.
Acting in “Murder by Improv” in January will keep Bernard in The Villages for a few weeks. But although he is a key actor and the writer, he will not take the director’s role.
“I don’t have the patience,” he laughs.
As well as shuttling back and forth to Fort Lauderdale, Bernard also spends time traveling to visit his three children and five grandchildren.
“I really adore my children and grandchildren,” he says. “I don’t know what I’d do without them. They make my life.”
John W Prince is a writer and Villages resident. For more information visit www.GoMyStory.com.