Area stages busy with arrival of fall performance season
9/15/2010It’s an abundance of riches for theater lovers this weekend, as many community troupes get their 2010-11 seasons under way.
The Toledo Repertoire Theatre opens with The Foreigner, a comedy by Larry Shue. It revolves around buddies Charlie and Froggy, who plan to vacation together after Froggy finishes up a job. Charlie checks into a Georgia fishing lodge to wait, but because he’s exceedingly shy, Froggy tells the other guests that his pal can’t understand a word of English. Instead of leaving him alone, those guests use Charlie as a confidant, presuming their secrets are safe with him. They aren’t.
Directed by F. Scott Regan, The Foreigner stars Lane Hakel as Charlie; Heath Huber as Froggy; Janna Gerke as heiress Catherine Simms; Matthew O’Brien as Catherine’s fiance, the Rev. David Lee; John Jenkinson as Catherine’s brother, Ellard; Rob Gentry as county property inspector Owen Musser, and Debbie Monagan as lodge-owner Betty Meeks.
“The Foreigner” runs through Oct. 3 in the theater at 16 10th St. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sept. 30, with matinees at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 26 and Oct. 3. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, $10 for students 13 and older, and $5 for those 12 and younger. Information: 419-243-9277.
Comedy in BG
The Curious Savage, John Patrick’s comedy about a rich widow, her grasping relatives, and the inmates of a sanatorium who become her new family, opens the Black Swamp Players’ 2010-11 theater season.
Directed by Dennis East, the play features Karen Landrus as Ethel Savage and Ryan Brown, Deb Shaffer, and Guy Zimmerman as her stepchildren. Appearing as “guests” at the sanatorium are Stephen Becker, Hope Bernard, Sarah Katka, Nathaniel Miller, J.L. Murdoch, and Aiden Stroud. Alish Bond and Leroy Morgan take the roles of the sanatorium staff.
First produced in 1950 in New York’s Martin Beck Theatre, the show featured Ohio native Lillian Gish in the role of Ethel Savage.
The Black Swamp Players will present “The Curious Savage” at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 25 and at 2 p.m. Sept. 26 in the First United Methodist Church, 1526 East Wooster St., Bowling Green. Tickets, $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors, are available at Grounds for Thought coffee shop, 174 South Main St., Bowling Green. Information: blackswampplayers.org
Also opening
• The Odd Couple opens the Waterville Playshop’s season. The female version of the Neil Simon comedy about a slob and a neatnik forced to become roommates will be directed by John Oster and presented in Grand Rapids’ Town Hall theater on Front Street. Performances are at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday; tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors and students. Information: 419-270-1240.
• Fremont Community Theatre opens its 55th season with Bingo: The Musical. The audience-participation comedy revolves around Vern, Honey, and Patsy, die-hard friends and Bingo fans, who are forced to confront an incident in their past by a mysterious newcomer to their weekly game. The cast comprises Jen Abdoo, Mandy Burris, Hilary Frater, Cyndi Hineline, Kendra Keegan, Ethan Mandeville, and Linda Rich. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 26 in the theater at 1551 Dickinson St., Fremont. Information: 419-332-0775.
• Williams County Community Theatre opens Evil Dead, the Musical tomorrow. The zany show combines elements from the Evil Dead and Army of Darkness horror films. The cast for the R-rated show includes Crystal Bowers, Zach McAfee, Jed Ramos, Kyla Huband, Tim Sanders, Jeremy Scott, and Heather Stoner. Performances will be at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday and Sept. 23-25 in Opdyke Park, County Road 16 near County Road J in Williams County. Information: 419-636-6400 or 888-569-9228.
• The Encore Theatre in Lima continues its 52nd season with William Inge’s Picnic, the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a cocky drifter who changes the lives of three women in a small Kansas town. Directed by George Dunster, the cast includes Sarah Bennett, Chris Butturff, Kedryn Carpenter, Victoria Covarrubias, Alice Donahue, G. Chris Dunster, A. J. Frueh, Jon Hodges, Peg Matheny, Andr Michelle, and Maurissa Shank. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays at 991 North Shore Drive, Lima. Tickets are $13 for adults, $11 for seniors, and $8 for students. Information: 419-223-8866 or 800-944-1441.
Contact Nanciann Cherry at ncherry@theblade.com or 419-724-6130.