Two broke, out of work Shakespearian actors hatch a plan to steal an inheritance from a wealthy old maid by pretending to be her long lost nieces. Wrenches start to get thrown into the plan when the two cross dressing con artists fall in love with a pair of women and word comes that the real nieces are on their way. This is Ken Ludwig’s Leading Ladies currently playing at the Omaha Community Playhouse.
Ludwig is a masterful writer who knows all the ins and outs of good farce. You’ve got the slamming doors, the over the top characters, the mistaken identities, and the ludicrous scenarios. But Ludwig also adds a story that has got quite a bit of heart and includes a couple of surprising plot twists before the tale ends. His terrific script is supported, nay, enhanced by a sterling cast that runs like a well oiled machine and obtains the maximum amount of yuks possible.
Jeff Horger paints a beautifully funny picture with his direction. He clearly has an excellent grasp on farce with his use of broad, comedic strokes on the canvas. Horger’s staging is top notch with his actors constantly moving about the performance space and his sight gags are completely organic and always apropos to the situation. He’s also led his actors to strong, humorous performances and they made nary a misstep throughout the production. Horger’s use of a melodramatic score composed and arranged by Vince Krysl is a positively inspired touch.
The supporting cast provides an excellent foundation for the comedy as each has developed a unique, zany character with his or her own particular quirks that brought vivid life to this world. This includes Catherine Vazquez as a not overly bright waitress who builds a more complex vocabulary one word at a time, Sue Mouttet as the acid tongued matriarch with a heart of gold, and especially Don Harris and Christopher Scott who provided me with some deep belly laughs as the inept and lusty Doc Myers and his dopey son, Butch.
Will Muller stuns with his portrayal of Rev. Duncan Wooley. With his unyielding posture, monotone voice, and limited, robotic movements, Muller has crafted one of the funniest characters I’ve seen in quite some time. Muller’s Wooley may be a man of God, but he isn’t very likable as he is a stick in the mud’s stick in the mud who never wants to have any fun, plans a dull, businesslike wedding, and schemes to do God’s work using his fiancée’s wealth. Muller is at his comedic best when his buttons get pushed to the point where his emotions finally explode out of him.
Victoria Luther is absolutely darling with her interpretation of Meg Snider, Wooley’s fiancée and heiress to a large fortune. In many ways, Ms Luther is the glue of this cast as her character fuses the play’s unreality to its reality. She is the most natural character in the show and brings a bright vibrancy with her character’s love of theatre and life. Ms Luther shows impressive versatility as she easily switches from believable, grounded moments to over the top reactions when the need arises.
As important as the other characters are, the heaviest burden of this show lies on the shoulders of its “leading ladies” and the burden is well and ably carried by Kevin Goshorn and Michael Judah making their Playhouse debuts.
Michael Judah arguably does the most heavy lifting with his rendition of Leo Clark. Clark is not only a sucky, over the top actor, but he is always on and has a mouth with an inexhaustible energy source. Judah’s energy is unbelievably phenomenal as he rises to the challenge of this role with a feat of skillful overacting that would make John Carradine proud. How he maintains that energy without collapsing is beyond me as he easily transitions from the theatrical Clark to the equally over the top “Maxine”. Yet the over the topness of the character still seems completely natural. It’s as if Clark doesn’t know how to just be himself until he falls in love with Meg and FINALLY drops his defenses and is able to engage in some lovely softer moments with her.
Kevin Goshorn’s Jack Gable is a worthy sidekick to Leo Clark. Goshorn marvelously plays the loyal friend who gets caught up in Clark’s machinations. Forced to impersonate Stephanie, the deaf and dumb niece, Goshorn has stupendous facial expressions and body language as he invents his own sign language to communicate with others and is especially amusing when he uses that sign language to tell “Maxine” he’d like to throttle “her”. But he’s no shrinking violet. As decent a person as Gable is, he isn’t above worming hugs out of the lady he likes or standing up to Clark by manipulating him to become “Maxine” just to screw with him. Goshorn also gets the play’s funniest moment when he tries to bait Wooley into seducing him in order to help Clark get Meg.
The Snider estate, designed by Steve Wheeldon, is absolutely gorgeous with its soft blue walls and fancy double doors. John Gibilisco’s sounds almost become extra characters with Clark’s idea moments and Meg’s entrance theme. Amanda Fehlner’s costumes are extremely elegant, especially the gowns worn by Ms Luther, Judah, and Goshorn. Darin Kuehler’s properties, especially the furniture, really liven up the stage.
This is the type of show that’s sure to take you out of yourself for a little while. It’s not only laugh out loud funny, but it’s also got just the right touch of warmth and heart.
Leading Ladies runs at the Playhouse through May 7. Showtimes are Wed-Sat at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $36 for adults and $22 for students Thurs-Sun. Wednesday show tickets are $28 for adults and $18 for students. For tickets, contact the box office at 402-553-0800 or visit www.omahaplayhouse.com or www.ticketomaha.com. The Omaha Community Playhouse is located at 6915 Cass St in Omaha, NE.
Chris' Corner 