PARADISE — Theatre on the Ridge actor Jeff Dickenson regards “Casablanca” as the greatest love story ever told. “It’s a sweeping, romantic, love story,” Dickenson, who plays resistance leader Victor Laszlo in the play, said. The movie “Casablanca” debuted in 1942 and went on to win Academy Awards for best picture, best directing and best writing.
The theater version, which debuts at TOTR in September, came after the movie. Dickenson regards the movie as the best film ever made. The story is set in the “glittering oasis” of Rick’s, a nightclub owned by American Rick and set in Casablanca, Morocco.
The people who frequent the club see it as an escape from the corruption and oppression of Nazi-occupied Casablanca. War torn and lovelorn, people gather in the nightclub, where music is playing and drinks are flowing: The nights at Rick’s are about to be flipped when an unexpected guest, a beautiful woman named Ilsa, chooses of “all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world,” to walk into Rick’s. Marquita Goodman plays Ilsa.
She was asked by director Amber Miller to be in the show one year ago. Goodman has performed in several shows at both TOTR and Chico Theater Company. “It’s been a great experience working with Amber,” Goodman said.
“I’ve acted with her onstage and it made me so excited to be directed by her. Her reputation precedes her.” Miller also designs sets and designed the “Casablanca” set.
“She is multi-talented,” G.