Playgoers of Lethbridge is excited to bring Ken Ludwig’s 2004 comedy “Leading Ladies,” to the Yates Theatre, Feb. 11-14.
“It’s been hard on the actors. Ken Ludwig asks a lot of the actors,” said director Rita Peterson, moulding a talented and experienced cast and crew which include veterans of Playgoers of Lethbridge as well as Shakespeare in the Park, Hatrix Theatre and newcomers.
“ It’s very busy physically. There is a lot of running around and lots of really fast costume changes,” Peterson said.
“Leading Ladies” is about two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, played by John Bowers and Garrett Bishoff who find themselves down on their and performing "Scenes from Shakespeare" on the Moose Lodge circuit in Pennsylvania Amish country.
When they hear an old lady in York, 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. When they get to York, they discover the relatives aren't nephews, but nieces. Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls in love with the old lady’s vivacious niece, Meg, played by Monique Prusky, who’s engaged to the local minister, played by Preston Scholz. 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.
“The cast has been really amazing. They have been working hard since November and are looking forward to getting on stage and doing it,” Peterson said.
She hopes audiences will laugh.
“ I hope they will appreciate thes
e talented actors. We have veterans and we have newcomers. It has been a really nice mix,” she said.
Monique Prusky is excited to be back on stage.
She returned to the the stage after a long hiatus to play another Maggie in another Ken Ludwig comedy “Lend Me A Tenor” in October with Hatrix Theatre, which also featured Leading Ladies cast members Preston Scholz and Jeff Graham.
“ She is the niece of Florence Snider who is a millionaire. She’s engaged to Reverend Worley,” she said.
“ She’s young and naïve and excitable. She’s similar in a couple of ways to Maggie (in Lend Me a Tenor) but also different,” she said.
“Meg is a bit smarter than Maggie. But she is still very trusting and accepts everything at face value,” she said.
while she didn’t audition because it was another Ken Ludwig play, she thought the script was hilarious when she read it.
“ I just love theatre so I was excited to get cast. I was pleased to see it was another Ken Ludwig play,” she continued.
“This cast is so talented. So getting to know them on and off stage has been the best part,” she said.
She hopes audiences will laugh a lot at Leading Ladies.
“ I just hope everyone will have a really good time and have a lot of laughs. It really is a great play,” she enthused.
John Bowers is also excited to be back on stage.
“ I missed Shakespeare in the Park last year. So when Kate (Connolly, Leading Ladies cast member and Shakespeare in the Park general manager) told me about it, I wanted to take part. They were having trouble casting roles,” said Bowers, who plays Jack/ Stephanie.
“ I just always like doing theatre,” he said adding they do perform a little bit of Shakespeare in Leading Ladies as well as have a sword fight.
He is enjoying playing Jack, one of the down on their luck actors from England relegated to performing excerpts from Shakespeare on the Moose Lodge circuit in Pennsylvania.
“ He’s a good friend of Leo, but he wants to settle down and raise a family but he doesn’t want to disappoint his friend,” he said. That includes being dragged into helping Leo with his scheme which includes dressing up as Stephanie to convince an elderly lady they are her nieces and entitled to her inheritance.
“It is Leo’s idea, Jack just tags along,” he said.
“ I believe Leo's idea will work, but I’m just fooling myself,” he said adding the biggest challenge has been speaking in a British accent.
“ Leo changes the plan frequently and doesn’t tell Jack, so he has to keep up with him,” he said.
Garrett Bishoff is excited to play the bad influence Leo. He played several characters in Spamalot last Spring and Feste the fool in Shakespeare in the Park’s production of A Twelfth Night last summer and has been on stage with many University of Lethbridge productions.
“ Leo is an excitable fellow with many schemes. They don’t always go his way but they always work out,” Bishoff described.
“ He’s a very big romantic. He like the idea of living life to its fullest and he wants to make sure people get their just desserts,” he added.
“ It is one of the funniest plays I ever read,” he enthused.
“ It has a great story. I want to introduce it to people. The audience will be having lot of laughs,” he said.
Playgoers of Lethbridge’s production of Ken Ludwig’s “Leading Ladies” runs Feb. 11-14 at the Yates Theatre at 7:30 p.m. each night. Tickets cost $22.
