THREE MEN ON A HORSE Opens Tonight at Lakewood Theatre Company

Lakewood Theatre Company continues its 62nd season tonight, March 6, 2015 with the 1930s comedy Three Men on a Horse by John Cecil Holm and George Abbott. This dizzy and delightful Depression-era comedy brings an opportunity for reflection, and a much-needed lift to our spirits, as we recover from the Great Recession.

Directed by Michael Griggs, Three Men on a Horse continues through April 12 with the following schedule: Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 PM; Sundays at 7:00 PM (March 8, 15 & 22) and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM (March 15, 22, 29 and April 12). There are two Wednesday performances at 7:30 PM on March 18 and April 1, 2015.

The theatre is located at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego. Ticket prices are $32/adults and $30/seniors. Other discounts are available for students and groups. For additional information and tickets, call the Lakewood Box Office at (503) 635-3901 or order online at www.lakewood-center.org.

Special note: At the Wednesday, March 18 performance the theatre continues a new program this year called WOW: 25-35. For people 35 and under tickets are priced at $25 each. One hour prior to performance there will be a complimentary wine tasting hosted by World Class Wines. Come enjoy Wine on Wednesday (WOW) paired with discounted show tickets.

The Story: Three Men on a Horse takes place in the 1930s, a decade of lingering economic depression, prohibition, and speakeasy bars with gambling and gang-related crime. One character in the play, a very law-abiding citizen, possesses a strange ability to pick winning horses at the racetrack and that uncanny skill attracts three men and a girl whose profession is betting on horses.

The play begins in a small suburban house in Ozone Heights, New Jersey, the home of a young couple named Erwin (Sean Powell) and Audrey Trowbridge (Sara Copeland). Erwin works in an office with a very demanding boss, Mr. Carver (David Heath). Erwin writes verses for greeting cards, and one morning he's feeling the pressure of having to come up with 67 new Mother's Day poems by the next day. As if this weren't enough, Audrey finds a notebook in which Erwin has written some cryptic names and numbers, and she leaps to the conclusion that he is seeing other women. But these names do not belong to girls, he explains, they belong to horses!

Erwin has taken to picking racetrack winners as a harmless pastime, the way that some people might do crosswords. He tells Audrey he wouldn't consider really gambling, as they can barely get by on his salary. But he keeps track of the money that he might have won and it's a whopping sum, several times his annual income. Frantic about work deadlines looming, Erwin flies off the handle when another of Audrey's unexpected shopping bills arrives. Instead of going to the office, he starts barhopping in the city, where he meets Patsy (Ted Schulz) his girlfriend Mabel (Laura Hiszczynskyj) and his crew of small-time gamblers (Alan H. King and Robin Woolman) who are down on their luck - until they discover Erwin's remarkable gift for picking winners! They form an unlikely partnership where he tells them who to bet on. Although Erwin gets fabulously rich on paper, there's just one catch -- he'll lose his powers if he personally bets on a horse.

The ensemble also includes: Sean Doran, Darren McCarthy, Chip Sherman, Randy McLeod, and Anneke Wisner.

Scenic design for LTC's production of Three Men on a Horse is by Jeff Seats. Lighting design is by Mark LaPierre, costume design is by Patricia J. Rohrbach, and sound design is by Sharath Patel. The stage manager is Felix Kelsey, the assistant stage manager is Addie Underwood and the producer is Kay Vega.

About Lakewood Theatre Company - 62 Years of Live Theatre: Founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1952, Lakewood Theatre Company is a professional theatre dedicated to the study and presentation of drama in all its forms; the training and development of actors; and the creation, maintenance and operation of a theatre in which to present plays and other forms of entertainment. Lakewood Theatre Company is the oldest continually operated, not-for-profit theatre company in the Portland Metropolitan area. It annually provides more than 400 theatre artists the opportunity to learn and display their craft and attracts more than 40,000 people to its shows.

Pictured: Alan H. King, Sean Powell as Erwin Trowbridge ,Ted Schulz and Robin Woolman in Three Men on a Horse. Photo by Triumph Photography taken at Portland Meadows.

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