VALDOSTA —
Theatre Guild Valdosta unleashes some of its leading players this week to star in its newest comedy, “Leading Ladies.”
Clay Lee and Michael Brogdon star as two down-and-out Shakespearean actors who see an opportunity for fortune simply by dressing as women. Lee has appeared in roles as diverse as George in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and as several characters in “Greater Tuna.” Brogdon has played Brick in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and the comic Dub Dubberly in the recent “Southern Hospitality.”
They are joined by veterans from past Guild shows and other area theatre productions: Diane Brunston, Stephenie Austin, Josh Robertson, Bill Eger, Gale Eger and Andy Connerly.
The show is directed by Brenda Brunston with Patti Cook as assistant director.
Brenda Brunston says this show relies more on wit than slapstick, matters of the heart more than farce.
The Guild’s show synopsis: “In this hilarious comedy, two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing ‘Scenes from Shakespeare’ on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady in York, Pa., is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long-lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren’t nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady’s vivacious niece, Meg, who’s engaged to the local minister. Meg knows that there’s a wide world out there, but it’s not until she meets ‘Maxine and Stephanie’ that she finally gets a taste of it.”
“Leading Ladies” is set in the 1950s. Grant Brown designed a set to look like that of an older woman who stopped home decorating in the 1930s.
Amidst the comic lines and the men dressed in drag, Brunston says this show finds its soul in the developing relationships between the conniving Shakespeareans and the young women they meet.
“Leo wants money but once he meets Meg, his ambitions change,” Brunston says. “Meg is more important to him than the money.”
“Leading Ladies” is a play by Ken Ludwig, who also penned the hilarious “Lend Me a Tenor,” which Theatre Guild produced in 2005. This show sets a different tone than several recent Guild plays which have been Southern comedies, such as “Southern Hospitality,” “Christmas Belles,” “Dearly Beloved,” “Greater Tuna,” “Simply Divided” and “The Great American Trailer Park Musical.”
Both the Guild, and possibly audiences, are ready to try something with a little less Southern twang and a little more British lilt.
SHOWTIME
Theatre Guild Valdosta presents “Leading Ladies.”
When: 7:30 p.m. today, Friday, Saturday, Feb. 2, 3, 4; 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5; 7:30 p.m., Feb. 9, 10, 11.
Where: The Dosta Playhouse, 122 N. Ashley St.
Ticket: $13.
Reservations, more information: Call (229) 24-STAGE; or visit www.theatreguildvaldosta.com
