Our play first opens with a clever abridged version of Shakespeare\u2019s Twelfth Night and then proceeds to tell the story about two English Shakespearean actors, Leo Clark (Craig Christianson) and Jack Gable (Robert Nelson), who find themselves down on their luck, so they are performing \u201cScenes from Shakespeare\u201d in the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish county of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
\u00a0When they hear that an old lady by the name of Florence (Christina Jacqua) 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.<\/p>\n
When they discover that \u201cMax\u201d and \u201cSteve\u201d are actually \u201cMaxine\u201d and \u201cStephen,\u201d they continue on undaunted, in drag. Leo falls for Florence\u2019s actual niece Meg (Laura Domingo), while Jack swoons over Florence\u2019s part-time aide, Audrey (Laura Espino).<\/p>\n
Florence recovers just as the pair arrives, but they decide to keep on, both to try to outlast her health and to stay close to the objects of their interest. Leo convinces Meg, who is enamored with Shakespeare and a fan of Jack and Leo, to put on a production at Florence\u2019s estate, to give himself more of an opportunity to be with her, both as Leo and Maxine.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Meg\u2019s fianc\u00e9 Duncan grows increasingly suspicious of the \u201cleading ladies.\u201d<\/p>\n
With this play, Ken Ludwig again proves his reputation as the master of American farce, so well established with \u201cLend Me a Tenor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Craig Christianson steals the show as Leo Clark. His performance is varied, subtle and complex, far beyond such broad comedy. Leo\u2019s dialects are quite different for each facet of his character: Shakespearean actor, actor not performing, lover, woman and actress. Christianson\u2019s vocal performance never falters.<\/p>\n
Robert Nelson, as Jack Gable, is in control at all times \u2013 knowing how much of Gable\u2019s frustration to show each of the other characters and how much to demonstrate to the audience. He has some priceless stage business as the deaf and dumb Stephanie about how she is to understand someone else speaking.<\/p>\n
\u00a0There are so many other highlights. This is a show in which the wise-cracks come only from smart alecs, and chief among them is Doc Myers, portrayed by the amazing Michael Walraven.<\/p>\n
Laura Domingo walks a more subtle line as Meg.\u00a0 Neither hard-boiled nor dim-witted, Meg is serious and smart and concerned with the interplay of honor and desire. David Kester plays the Rev. Duncan Woolery as oily and superior.<\/p>\n
Marie Meier\u2019s and Janice Deneau\u2019s costumes are wonderful, and Michael Walraven\u2019s set is a masterpiece. Superbly staged and paced by Kris Neely, Leading Ladies<\/em> at the Novato Theater Company is magnificently realized.<\/p>\n Leading Ladies<\/em> opened on August 22nd<\/sup> and will play through September 14th<\/sup>, 2014, at the Novato Theater Company. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. NTC is located at 5420 Nave Drive in Novato. For tickets, call 415-883-4488, or go online at www.novatotheatercompany.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Coming up next at NTC will be Avenue Q,<\/em> with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and book by Jeff Whitty, from October 9th<\/sup> through November 9th<\/sup>, 2014.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our play first opens with a clever abridged version of Shakespeare\u2019s Twelfth Night and then proceeds to tell the story about two English Shakespearean actors, Leo Clark (Craig Christianson) and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-flora-lynn-isaacson"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"