TheatreWorks New Milford's LEADING LADIES Opens 9/18

On Friday, September 18, TheatreWorks New Milford will premiere LEADING LADIES, the hilariously outrageous farce by Ken Ludwig. The curtain rises at 8:00 p.m. on a four-week run.

From the author of Lend Me a Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo comes this outrageous comedy. The story focuses on Jack and Leo, two English Shakespearean actors who are so down on their luck they are reduced to performing "Scenes from Shakespeare" on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. But 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 and, in the tradition of any Ken Ludwig farce, absolute hilarity ensues.

"This farcical wonder-ride, filled with both heart and lunacy, challenges and ultimately upturns all of the characters' lives, while treating the audience to an uproarious journey of mistaken identity and misunderstandings galore," said director Michael Bolinski of Waterbury.

"LEADING LADIES is fast-moving, energetic, and very, very funny," said producer Glenn R. Couture of Ansonia. "Let's face it, audiences have been laughing at guys in dresses since Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, probably earlier than that. This show pays clear homage to that masterpiece, the classic play Charley's Aunt, and movies like Some Like It Hot. Still, like Ludwig's other farces, this play bear's his stamp...the writing smacks of his unique sense of urgency, mistaken identity, and timing. And, like his other farces, it's guaranteed to produce gut-busting laughter."

The production features an outstanding cast from all over the tri-state area: Hal Chernoff (Simsbury), Victoria Calamito (Carmel, N.Y.), Daniel Basiletti (Brewster, N.Y.), Rob Pawlikowski (Roxbury), Edwin Arce II (Harrington Park, N.J.), and Mary Wilson, Carey Van Hollen, and Ron Dukenski (all Southbury).

In addition to Bolinski and Couture, the show's crew consists of set designer Judy Tringali, costume designer Susan Aziz, lighting designers Richard Pettibone and Scott Wyshynski, sound designer Tom Libonate, and stage manager Beth Plotkin.

LEADING LADIES had its world premiere at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas, in association with the Cleveland Playhouse, on October 15, 2004. The Houston Press said of the show, "Ludwig's newest farce is so funny, it will make sophisticated and reasonable men and women of the 21st century cackle till their faces hurt."
LEADING LADIES runs September 18,19 25,26 October 2,3,4 9,10. Curtain time is 8:00 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, with a 2:00 p.m. Sunday matinee on October 4. Tickets for all shows are $23 for reserved seating. Students and Military personnel with ID will be admitted for $18.

On Thursday, September 17, Senior Citizens are invited to a free dress rehearsal at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, September 24 at 8:00 p.m., is TheatreWorks' Pay-What-You-Want night. At this performance, patrons name the price for their ticket.

Reservations can be made online at THEATREWORKS.US or by calling the box office at (860) 350-6863.

TheatreWorks is an award-winning, non-Equity theatre company, named Best Community Theater in Connecticut by Connecticut Magazine. TheatreWorks is located at 5 Brookside Avenue , just off Route 202 (next to the CVS), in New Milford , CT. Parking is located behind the Catherine E. Lillis Administration Building at 50 East Street, New Milford.

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