Forum calls on Ray Wills for comeback in ‘Dial M for Murder’

Forum Theatre’s “Dial M for Murder” marks a theatrical comeback for Ray Wills.

Wills, a Wichita native who has gone on to Broadway in “The Producers,” “Big” and “Anna Karenina,” was last on stage at the Forum for “Desperate Measures” in 2020.

Since that time, he retired from teaching theater at Newman University, wrote his memoir and successfully emerged from treatment for cancer in his throat.

“The good news is I spent a year in treatment, and I am 100% cancer free,” he said of his squamous cell carcinoma. “It was out of nowhere, but the doctors said early detection is good and they knew how to get it.”

The cancer was quashed with radiation treatments but no surgery.

“It’s largely a skin disease, topical. Mine was in the throat and not spread or metastasized or anything, so they just were able to nuke it,” he said.

The 64-year-old said he was told the cancer is most common in men over 60, and not, as he believed, prostate cancer.

Wills credits his support system with helping him get through the difficult year.

“You have to lean on some folks, and my friends have been very helpful to me and got me through it,” he said.

During the pandemic, Wills wrote “Being Max: A Short Memoir About a Long Day in the Life of a Broadway Understudy,” centered around his time on “The Producers” on Broadway, where star Nathan Lane was unavailable, and Wills had to step in after no rehearsal with the rest of the cast. It is available as an e-book and audiobook on Amazon.

Getting back on stage, Wills said, completes his recovery process.

“It just feels good to be back on stage doing what I’m supposed to do,” he said. “It feels good to be part of the recovery process and back on the boards, you know?”

Wills is among a five-member cast for “Dial M for Murder,” based on the 1952 play by Frederick Knott, which was turned into a 1954 Alfred Hitchcock movie thriller with Ray Milland and Grace Kelly. With the blessings of the Knott estate, writer Jeffrey Hatcher updated the script, which premiered in 2022 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.

“The plot is the same, with just little twists that are different,” Forum artistic director Kathryn Page Hauptman said. “The dialogue has been shortened to make it more contemporary. But the story is still there, and it works really well.”

“Dial M” is still set in the 1950s, Wills added, since today’s voicemail and caller ID would ruin much of the suspense.

“What I love about the script is that it’s the opposite of most murder mysteries, things like Agatha Christie where you have 10 suspects and you follow Poirot to figure out which one did it,” he said.

In “Dial M,” he added, “Pretty much by the second scene you know who the killer is and what the perfect-murder plot is. But then you get to follow along and see if it works or not. Because it’s very complicated. Then, you’re picking up the clues and wondering if he’s going to get away with it. The ending is still a surprise.”

Joining Wills in the cast are Chelsea Ehresman, Aaron Profit, Mark Mannette and Shanna Berry.

“It’s a very fine cast,” Hauptman said. “It’s so much fun as a director to work with really accomplished actors, sharing brilliant ideas. It’s been a fun experience.”

‘DIAL M FOR MURDER’ BY FORUM THEATRE

When: Oct. 31 to Nov. 16; performances at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Wilke Center, First United Methodist Church, 330 N. Broadway

Tickets: $42, with discounts for military, from 316-618-0444 or forumtheatre.org