The Manor plays at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills at 905 Loma Vista Drive (off Doheny Road) with ample free parking. Light refreshments will be served. Comfortable shoes recommended. Seating is limited and reservations are necessary. Admission: $45.00. There is a new dedicated phone line for information and reservations at 310-694-6118 or visit theatre40.org for more information.

Murder, mansion, and Beverly Hills? Sounds like a recipe for success. Such has certainly proved the case for Theatre 40 and its hit show The Manor, now in its eighth season will no signs of slowing down.

Kathrine Bates

Theatre 40’s critically-acclaimed, highly entertaining drama of intrigue and family conflict is performed at Greystone mansion, the scene of the original Doheny family tragedy which inspired this fictionalized play by Kathrine Bates. Playing to sell-out audiences since its debut, the audience follows actors through several rooms of Greystone’s first floor dressed to resemble the original 1920’s house.

“I think there’s a real feeling of melancholy to the house,” says Kathrine Bates, playwright, co-producer, and performer in the show. “It really feeds the drama. It’s just - it gives me chills to think about.”

The show is a fictionalized re-enactment of true events surrounding the Doheny family and Greystone Mansion - namely, their involvement in the Teapot Dome Scandal and  the murder/suicide which forever cast a gloom over the house. Out of respect for the family, the show chronicles the conflicts within the prominent “MacAlister” family as their good fortune and wealth collapses into tragedy.

“I’ve been involved in theatre in Los Angeles for over 35 years - doing plays, producing plays, acting in plays - and rarely have I seen audiences so satisfied with a theatrical experience as they are with The Manor,” adds David Hunt Stafford, Bates’ co-producer. “It’s just so unique, so powerful, just terrific.”

David Hunt Stafford

Both Stafford and Bates have fostered the show from its earliest inception, when a former employee of the city of Beverly Hills brought up the idea to stage a play within Greystone to Stafford. The employee moved away, but the idea stuck fast.

“I mentioned to Kathy, boy this idea about creating a play that’s performed  inside Greystone could become a big sensation. Kathy said, ‘I’ll write it,’” chuckles Stafford. “And I said, ‘Grab a pencil.’”

Bates did more than just pick up a pencil. A true Renaissance woman, she not only wrote the script but continues to act and play the piano for her role as the family matriarch. She, like some of the other loyal cast members, has never missed a performance in the expansive run.

And so the run continues, as The Manor enters its eighth season with no end in sight.

For a taste of what the mansion looks like and what to expect as an audience member, watch the video tour lead by Bates and Stafford below:

Feature image and location photos courtesy of Theatre 40 and David Hunt Stafford.

Publicity photos by Marc Olevin

Article and video by Janet Thielke