Fort Myers Florida Weekly

Cast of Gulfshore Playhouse ‘Leading Ladies’ elevates farce

ARTS COMMENTARY



 

 

In Shakespeare’s time, men would play both the male and female roles.

In Ken Ludwig’s “Leading Ladies,” a pair of Shakespearean actors are once again pretending to be women — but they do so in attempts to swindle a dying woman out of her money by claiming to be her long-lost nieces.

The two men, Leo (Willam Connell) and Jack (Zach Martens) assume the identities of Maxine and Stephanie, respectively.

They’ve been bumming around for 10 years, acting, but are still at rock bottom. If their scene at the local Moose lodge is any indication, we can understand why. The two have a sword fight while quoting a hodge-podge of lines from various Shakespearean plays.

When they learn that a dying woman, Florence (Mary Stout) is looking for her relatives, Max and Steve, in order to leave them her millions but hasn’t seen them since their childhood, they decide, out of desperation, to deceive her. But then, they learn that Max and Steve are actually Maxine and Stephanie.

CONNELL

CONNELL

The lure of millions is too strong, and they pull a couple of dresses and wigs from their women’s costumes.

“Leading Ladies” is a soufflé of a play — light and fluffy, without a lot of substance but plenty of laughs.

It is, perhaps, the perfect show for Gulfshore Playhouse to open its new season, after a rocky beginning. Hurricane Irma caused the venue to cancel its New Play Festival as well as its first play of the season.

It has opened now, with “Leading Ladies,” rushing the opening a week early. (It runs through Dec. 10.) It’s a farce, something frivolous, and just the type of thing we need after the horror of Irma and the craziness of the world at large.

MARTENS

MARTENS

It’s this cast of very able actors that put flesh on these characters and elevate the material.

Mr. Connell and Mr. Martens play off of each other very well, and make … well, not beautiful women, but humorous ones. Think of it this way: they’re not as ugly as Milton Berle in a dress, but not as beautiful and glamorous as RuPaul. They’re maybe in the category of “Some Like It Hot.”

Mr. Marten’s character, who is deaf and mute, looks like Harpo Marx with his curls and angelic face. He gestures wildly in made-up sign language.

STOUT

STOUT

Mr. Connell is the dashing male lead who always gets the girl; as a woman, he’s … well, handsome.

Their dresses? Wonderfully horrendous. Even in York, Pa., of 1958, no normal woman dressed like Cleopatra or Titania.

Of course, there are complications.

This is a farce. There are always complications.

Erin Davie plays Meg, Florence’s other niece who will also inherit $1 million upon her death.

She’s a good-natured, flamboyant woman who loves the theater.

Unfortunately, she’s engaged to Duncan (Phillip Taratula), a minister. Duncan is greedy, intolerable and anal-retentive. Plus, he looks like Beaker from the Muppets. He doesn’t believe in engagement rings. He doesn’t believe in honeymoons. What he does believe in is the millions Meg stands to receive. He’s horrified that her cut will be reduced by two-thirds when “Max” and “Steve” show up.

 

 

Duncan has no sense of humor. And he hates the theater. That’s how you know he’s a villain.

Mr. Taratula plays him so perfectly you love to hate his character, waiting for his comeuppance.

Ms. Stout, as the dying Aunt Florence, almost steals the show. She doesn’t have a lot of scenes, but she sure makes the most of the ones she does have, bellowing her lines and bringing a fresh energy to the stage every time she appears, even though she’s allegedly dying.

She snaps out lines such as, “Old: smart! Young: nitwit!” while referring to her fellow characters, accompanying her pronouncements with a withering glare. She’s a powerhouse, a horror in pink, with white plastic-framed glasses.

 

 

Doc (Mike Lawler), who’s continually misdiagnosing Florence, is another great character actor in this production. He’s an adorable fumbler and mumbler.

His young son, Butch, (Alex Michael Albrecht) is engaged to Audrey (Hanley Smith), a dumb blonde who wants to further her education. Ms. Smith plays against stereotype with this performance, and it’s wonderful to see a more three-dimensional character than how others might play her. She makes you realize that there’s more there to her.

There are some wonderful scenes: a group of them rehearsing “Twelfth Night,” with comically bad acting, men wooing Jack when he’s dressed as Stephanie. And anything with Aunt Florence in it.

At one point, during Act II on opening night, the actors actually broke character, unable to contain their own smiles and laughter at the action onstage. It was endearing.

If you’re up for something silly and light and frothy, “Leading Ladies” might just be what you’re looking for.

‘Leading Ladies’

>> When: Through Dec. 10

>> Where: Gulfshore Playhouse, Norris Center, 755 8th Ave. South, Naples

>> Cost: $64, $59, $39, $20

>> Information: (866) 811-4111 or gulfshoreplayhouse.org

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