Season finale is a farce
The Butler Little Theatre closes the season with a Ken Ludwig farce. "Leading Ladies" will open on Friday at the theater at One Howard St.
The story is about two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, who find themselves performing the Moose Lodge circuit in Amish country. They set out to seek their fortune by duping an old widow into thinking they are long lost kin. The hitch is, the kin she is seeking are female, so the actors try to give the performance of their lives as leading ladies.
Romantic entanglements add to the chaos and confusion that has given audiences much to chuckle about.
This production of "Leading Ladies" is under the direction of Bob Meals. Danyle Verzinskie dons her producer hat for the first time with this show.
Meals said he is delighted to direct the show because it has heart and is hilarious.
"'Leading Ladies' is one of the funniest scripts I have ever read. It has some of the best aspects of 'Some Like It Hot,' 'Tootsie,' 'Shakespeare in Love' and 'Twelfth Night' while it has a heart of its own that is just so sweet," Meals said.
Meals said the play not only required well-choreographed fight scenes, but also segments of the tango and waltz. Lee Garrard of Lee's School of Dance was drafted to help with that task. "Seeing two grown men dancing the tango together is going to be worth the price of admission," Meals said.
The leading ladies, or men, Leo and Jack, are played by Casey Bowser and Phillip Ball.
"Jack Gable is a nice guy that can do nothing to prevent his personal ambitions from being overrun by those of his best friend Leo," said Ball of his character. "I always like working with Bob Meals and the cast has been a good bunch, so it has been a good time."
Ball, who is known for his voice and his comedic skills, added, "It's giving me an opportunity to sharpen comedic timing, and physical humor, only I have to do it in a dress."
Ball's partner in crime is Bowser. "Leo is very goal oriented. In his mind he has a clear idea of how his life should go. He feels he has done the things necessary to get what he wants and is currently dealing with some frustration due to life going one way and his goals going another," said Bowser, who is enjoying the experience but admits to being stretched a bit.
"I do some things in this role that I never have had to do. For half the play I have to use a higher pitched voice while using an English accent," he explained. "I have never had a major part where I have had to use an accent at all, so this part does present some challenges for me. I hope I can make it work."
The wealthy dame the duo is trying impress is played by Judy Greene of Wexford, who last appeared in "Whales of August" in 2007.
"Florence is a rich, irascible old lady very happy to find her long-lost nieces because she is looking for someone to like her," explained Greene.
The role of Audrey is filled by Casey Lazor.
"She is a naive and charismatic young woman starting college. She's smart, but she seems to be unaware of many things, including her sexuality," Lazor said. "At 17, I feel I can portray the right amount of wide-eyed youth and innocence to the role without it seeming contrived."
Thom Hilliard plays the doc of the situation. "I play Doc Myers, a small-town doctor who, in some ways, is a bit rough around the edges, yet he's trying to look out for a lot of different people," Hilliard said, noting that he was coerced into the role.
"The person who coerced me was the producer, Danyle Verzinskie. She told me if I didn't audition for this one, which she is producing, she expected me to work on the set, or run the lights or the sound for the play. Sounded too much like work, so I auditioned."
He guarantees the audience will have just as much fun as the cast does during this play.
The BLT show also includes Jeff Carey as Butch, Angelo Quaranta as Duncan, and Jaclyn Harrison as Meg.
The show runs Friday through Sunday and Tuesday to May 17 at the theater downtown.
<B>WHO:</B> Butler Little Theatre<B>WHAT:</B> "Leading Ladies" by Ken Ludwig<B>WHEN:</B> Friday through Sunday and May 13 to 17. Curtain is at 8:15 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays and 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays.<B>WHERE:</B> Butler Little Theatre, One Howard St.<B>TICKETS:</B> $10; call 724-287-6781 between 7 and 9 p.m.<B>INFORMATION:</B> www.bltgroup.org
