Leading Ladies

Critiqued by Holly Bartges

With a cast of wacky characters, and actors, for that matter, Vintage Theatre currently features Ken Ludwig's "goofaramic", nonsensical play Leading Ladies.

Timing is essential for this play to work, and director Pat Payne assembled a cast who well understands the meaning of timing.

Bernie Cardell and Andy Anderson in Vintage Theatre Production of Leading Ladies

Billed as a farce, it really isn't, not by the strictest definition. In a farce, characters take their situation deadly seriously, and the more serious they take themselves, the funnier it becomes. In Leading Ladies, however, everyone is very funny, knows they are funny, and shouts out. "Look at me. Aren't I funny?" The truth is they are.

Bernie Cardell knows funny inside and out. In his role as Jack Gable, a worn out Shakespearian actor, Cardell gets stretched for an exhausting romp through the wanderings of a very old and very tired joke, handling it with a masterful touch to make it work.

Andy Anderson keeps up with Cardell as Jack's Shakespearian sidekick, Leo Clark, holding his own with some great moments.

Gable and Clark's attempt to bring some hilarity from Shakespeare to the Moose Lodge in Shrewsbury, Pa, which doesn't exactly work for them or the Moose. At the train station desperate for money, and desperate for an ego-zap, they hear about Florence Snider's demise and the will she left for two nephews, Max and Steven, who can't be found.

Aha, nobody knows what these guys look like. As actors, Jack convinces Leo, sort of, they can become the nephews and at last be rich.

In the train station, they run into Audrey, or rather the roller skating Audrey runs into them. Allison Smith takes on the not-so-bright-light bulb with a delicious flair for comedic timing. She's delightful to watch.

Of course, all is not going to work out as smoothly as Clark and Cable plan. The wattage within their light bulbs doesn't register very high.

First, they discover Florence Snider hasn't met her demise. Just about the time Doc Myers, (Jesse Pearlman) thinks she will slip away, she rallies with several punches of her own. Jan Cleveland brings her to wonderful life. Cleveland is an actor with a Midas touch, and her characters are nothing but pure gold. Florence is no exception. Cleveland is unrecognizable as Florence, except for her actor's expertise.

The second surprise awaiting Clark and Gable is that the long lost relatives aren't nephews. They're nieces, Maxine and Stephanie. Following some panicked reaction, and some lopsided quick thinking on Jack's part, there's no problem. After all, they are actors.

With the assistance from some ridiculous Shakespearian costumes and wigs, Maxine and Stephanie take center stage.

It is difficult to comprehend that the other characters aren't capable of seeing through the "ridiculososity", honestly believing Clark and Gable are two enthralling lovely ladies, and of course they are the long lost nieces.

Andy Anderson and Bernie Cardell in Vintage Theatre Production of Leading Ladies.

As Meg Snider, Sarah Mae Johnson's comedic timing is simply magnificent. Every move she makes has been significantly calculated. At times, it is difficult to keep the eyes off of her. Engaged to the Reverend Duncan Wooley, finely played by Dell Domnik, Meg becomes enthralled when Stephanie (aka Leo) promises her she knows Leo Clark very well, and can arrange to have him come meet her, and even do some Shakespeare with her. Meg nearly loses erratic consciousness as she reveals a Shakespearian actor she's always wanted to be.

The straight-laced uptight Duncan, on the other hand smells a rat. Something isn't quite right concerning these two "charming beauties".

While everyone else is loose as a goose, Domnik plays Duncan as an emotionally bankrupt moralistic preacher with every muscle as stiff as his moralistic demeanor.

Audrey, sans roller skates, appears on the scene, causing Jack's tongue to hang down to his knees, which as Maxine, he sometimes has difficulty hiding. As Florence's assistant, Audrey runs into him frequently.

The all-knowing, Doc Meyers, strongly played by Pearlman, not only has to fight the "cobwedded" confusion over Florence's flirtation with life and death, but deal with his dim-witted son, Butch, funnily played by Luke Allen Terry. Butch is lost in love for Audrey, although he doesn't exactly know what to do abut it.

Turmoil captivates the Florence Snider household, as Jack and Leo madly switch between Maxine and Stephanie to keep their true identity in tact, and the energetic romp never quits.

In many ways, the actors' characterizations are more fun to watch than the play, which is predictable from the beginning. You know exactly what is going to happen and when, but the individual characterizations, so finely tuned, create their own interesting stir.

During Act Two, the dance sequence slows the entire process. It goes on way too long. Yes, there are some ingenious moves, but the entire sequence could be cut featuring those particular outrageous moves as the characters lop across the floor.

The Vintage will find success in Leading Ladies. For whatever reason, this type of nonsense appeals to a good many people. If you want to laugh just for the sake of laughing with no particular rhyme or reason, if you want to witness some fine comedic acting in appreciation for split second timing, then Leading Ladies is the place to be.

Leading Ladies
By Ken Ludwig; directed by Pat Payne