Several months ago I attended the opening production in the 2008-09 season of an excellent regional theater. Friday night, I attended the  opening of the current Elkhart Civic Theatre production. Both were presenting the same play: "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure," by Steven Dietz, based on two stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It's not often that I can say the "amateur" production was as good — or better — than the professional show. This is one time. Granted, the regional production had all the bells and whistles, set-wise: Elevators, scrims, fog, a movable suspended bridge, walls that glided on and off, platforms that rose from the stage floor ... it was so amazing that what I came away remembering was the set. Not that the acting was not good, but it was definitely overwhelmed by the constantly moving design. [caption id="attachment_110" align="alignright" width="500" caption="The King of Bohemia (Carl Wiesinger, left) brings a case to Sherlock Holmes (Rick Ellis, right) and Dr. Watson (Jim Bain) in "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure.""]

When ECT announced this show, my immediate reaction was "They'll never be able to pull it off." OK. I was wrong. Without the use of electronics, designer John Jay Shoup covered all the bases (aka required scene locations) with amazing ease AND without any loss of identification or distracting from the action. Electronics were replaced by good old-fashioned manpower in the form of the hard-working stage crew, costumed appropriately as servants in the period (1893) whose presence on stage during scene changes seemed very natural. It would be worth the price of admission just to check out the set. Most fortunately, the performances more than live up to the demands of the dialogue-heavy script. As the title character, Rick Ellis returns to the ECT stage with a vengeance — and the ability to turn the quixotic Holmes into a believable man, one whose powers of observation find answers in the most minute details. His methodical analysis is "elementary," and Ellis plays the shifting moods well, portraying the master detective as, finally, an all too vulnerable man who cannot resist the thrill of the chase. "The game's afoot, Watson!" he declares, adding prophetically "And it is a dangerous one." "You see but you do not observe," he scolds Dr. Watson, played by James Bain in an ECT debut that makes one hope for many return performances. Watson serves as best friend, sidekick and narrator, moving the action from Holmes's London home on Baker Street to a lodge in Europe to the Swiss alps and back to London. He is the lynchpin for the mercurial Holmes and is solid without being bumbling or boring. The relationship between the two is obvious. To quote "Jerry Maguire," they complete each other. It is a connection established immediately between the two, marred only by Holmes' longtime battle with the evil Prof. Moriarty (Bob Franklin), a criminal mastermind who draws the detective out of retirement for one last confrontation. Franklin addresses the role with appropriately malevolent glee. Carl Weisinger is The King of Bohemia, a monarch whose nearing nuptials are threatened by a  photograph of the King with a former mistress, opera diva Irene Adler (Julie Castello), who just happens to be the love of Holmes' life. In agreeing to retrieve the photo, Holmes' puts himself squarely in Moriarty's path, one that can only end in disaster. Aiding Moriarty are his "right hand man" Sid Prince (Tony Venable) and siblings James and Madge Larrabee (Dave Hoien and Karen Hoover), all of whom supply welcome comic touches. The shifting story lines (the play is based on two stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Final Problem) make focus necessary on both side of the footlights.  Director Dave Dufour has kept his actors' eyes on the prize, resulting in a winning experience for cast, crew and audience. "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure" plays at 8 p.m. today and next Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: 848-4116 between 1 and 5:30 p.m. and at the box office.