Cosmetics can’t hide story flaws in farcical ‘Leading Ladies’ | Review
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Ken Ludwig, of “Lend Me a Tenor,” “Moon Over Buffalo” and “Crazy for You” fame, is a mainstay of community theater, but somehow I had never seen his farce “Leading Ladies” — a sort of cross between “Some Like It Hot” and Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”
“Leading Ladies” is onstage at the Sonnentag Theatre at the IceHouse in Mount Dora. Directed by Darlin Barry, it’s a solid production with good casting: Marann Curtis, the show’s real leading lady, makes a particularly strong impression as Meg. And it’s eye-catching with a handsome set and costumes that play into the fun.
In fact, the production far exceeds the quality of the show itself.
Ludwig wrote the show in 2003 and was clearly going for a throwback feel with the humor. Some of it feels a little cringey two decades later: Repeatedly hugging a woman to cop a cheap thrill, for example. Some of it still works; strangely, the funniest sequence is the show is an extended double entendre related to male anatomy.
Ludwig’s characters are paper thin, which is not that unusual in farce, but Barry’s production has a surprise or two. Audrey, the object of desire of one of the men at the center of the show, was clearly designed to be a squeaky-voiced bubblehead blonde of the type we’ve all seen before. But Natalie Bollinger interestingly fights that stereotype and plays her more appealingly as sunnily determined.
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As for the plot: Two down-on-their-luck actors, Jack and Leo, decide to pull a scam to collect part of a recently deceased elderly woman’s fortune. But complications arise: They must disguise themselves as the woman’s nieces, “Stephanie” and “Maxine,” then each falls for a woman while in drag, and it turns out the elderly woman isn’t even dead.
There are enough plot holes to drive a trailer tractor through, and even though it’s necessary in this sort of farce for characters to be oblivious to obvious disguises, the trope is taken to a head-scratching extreme. Example: Leo is acting in a play, while his female persona, Maxine, is directing it. But we’re to believe that they have been rehearsing three weeks with no one questioning why Leo and Maxine are never both around at the same time. Huh?
Thankfully, the cast has enough playfulness to create entertaining moments. Joshua Keller and John Gracey successfully make their cross-dressing scoundrels appealing and funny; they are helped by the gauzy and gaudy costumes from Barry and Haley Kalmes.
Jim Morrison amuses as a less-than-stellar doctor, though Adam Cornett is hampered by a script that makes his avaricious minister unlikable from the start. As his fiancee, Curtis provides lovely timing and heartfelt delivery — and in a wonderful surprise finds actual depth in her character.
It all plays out on a gorgeous stately-home set by veteran designer Buddy Fales.
But I just have to go back to Ludwig’s script one more time. He spends far too long in exposition/set-up and then doesn’t provide a payoff — a big no-no in farce. (Example: What’s the point of making Meg, “Maxine” and “Stephanie” share a bedroom if we don’t get to see any close-call shenanigans?)
Ludwig’s lucky he had the IceHouse crew to find the laughs in his “Leading Ladies.”
‘Leading Ladies’
Length: 2:30, including intermission
When: Through Feb. 18
Where: Sonnentag Theatre at the IceHouse
Cost: $25 (discounts for students and children)
Info: icehousetheatre.com
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news at OrlandoSentinel.com/entertainment
