Musical celebrates search for runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks

DULUTH - When a 32-year-old named Jennifer Wilbanks disappeared while jogging a few days before her lavish wedding, Duluth was turned upside down.

Her friends and neighbors joined police in an inch-by-inch search of the normally quiet community that yielded few clues but attracted wide attention. By the time the missing woman turned up safe in New Mexico, the national media had invested too much effort for the story to simply disappear.

All that and more is included in ``Runaway Bride,'' a new musical debuting Thursday at the 267-seat Red Clay Theatre in the town where the drama unfolded. The theater opened less than two years ago in a remodeled building that was once a church and is owned by the city of Duluth.

Shelly Howard, Red Clay's managing partner, said she lived across the street from Wilbanks and fiance John Mason and was in a perfect position to view the real-life drama.

Howard enlisted Beverly Cantwell, an amateur writer and friend of the theater, to do an outline. Then she asked actress Deborah Childs, who played the title role in Red Clay's production of ``Driving Miss Daisy'' earlier this season, to write the script.

This is Childs' first script. The veteran stage, film and TV actress produced a rapid-fire, one-act play with 38 brief scenes featuring 20 actors who play 70 characters.

Popular songs, such as ``Stand By Me'' and ``Runaway,'' help advance the story.