Shakespeare-loving Meg (Linda Gillum) -- who is definitely channeling Loretta Young -- stands to inherit $3 million dollars from her Aunt Florence (Lolly Trauscht) in Ken Ludwig's funny "Leading Ladies" at Munster's Theatre at the Center. Auntie is looking for her sister's children, who were taken to England as small children. Meg is engaged to smarmy Rev. Duncan Wooley (Larry Adams) who covets her inheritance for his foundation. According to bumbling Doc Myers (Dale Benson), who can't find a pulse, Florence has died.
Leo Clark (Larry Wyatt) and Jack Gable (Geoff Rice) are British actors so down on their luck they're performing "Scenes from Shakespeare" on the Moose Lodge Circuit in Pennsylvania. When Leo reads about a woman in York looking for two long lost English relatives, he convinces Jack they can pass themselves off as her nephews, grab the inheritance, and skip town. Meeting Audrey (Kate Bergeron) on the train, they learn Max and Steve are really Maxine and Stephanie, so they don dresses, wigs and makeup!
When they arrive, Meg is welcoming, Duncan is suspicious enough to call an investigator, and Aunt Florence miraculously comes back to life! Soon 'deaf and dumb' Stephanie speaks, Max/Leo falls for his 'cousin,' Leo directs rehearsals for "Twelfth Night," and the 'girls' are unmasked.
TAC favorite Dale Benson, at the top of his game as Doc Myers, steals the show.
Playing against his usual leading man type, Larry Adams shows his smarmy side.
"Leading Ladies," running through March 22, is a definite must-see! FYI: (219) 836-3255.
Hammond's Towle Theatre opens its 2009 season with a different but humorous show, "Gutenberg! The Musical!" Doug Simon (Tom Farley) and Bud Davenport (Bill Danko) are performing the first reading of their new musical, hoping one of the Broadway producers in the audience will give them a contract.
Doug and Bud want to write about Gutenberg because little is known about him -- other than he invented the printing press -- leaving them free to make up the rest. They play all 30 characters -- Gutenberg, his girlfriend Helvetica, the totally evil Monk, the not-so-evil Young Monk, etc -- using labeled baseball hats. You'll love the hats as back-up singing rats, or in a dancing chorus line. "Gutenberg!" starts slow, but when it gets going, it's silly. It reminded me of the early days of Monty Python. "Gutenberg! The Musical!" is another must-see. FYI: (219) 937-8780.
The opinions expressed are solely the writer's. Reach her at laughingcat_98@yahoo.com.
