Timber Lake Playhouse (TLP), 8215 Black Oak Road, Mount Carroll, IL, presents the side-splitting comedy “Rumors” Thursday, July 17, through Saturday, July 26, 2014. It stars ten performers who have quickly become some of the area’s favorite comedic actors. “Rumors” performs evenings at 7:30 p.m., and there are 2:00 p.m. matinees on Sunday, July 20, and Wednesday, July 23. There is also a Saturday, July 19, matinee performance at 3:00 p.m.
Order tickets through the box office 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily at 815-244-2035 or any time at www.timberlakeplayhouse.org.
Derek Bertelsen, who staged last year’s “Spamalot,” returns to direct the play by American comedy master Neil Simon, about an anniversary party gone hilariously wrong. Cody Jolly (Dr. Frankenstein in “Young Frankenstein”) and Allison Hunt (Elizabeth in “Young Frankenstein”) kick off the mayhem, as Ken and Chris Gorman, married lawyers who arrive at the home of Charlie Brock, Deputy Mayor of New York City. They discover that their host seems to have shot himself,and his wife is nowhere to be found. As more of their upperclass friends arrive, the Gormans conspire with Lenny and Claire Ganz, played by Matt Webb (Patsy in “Spamalot”) and Caroline Murrah (Sheila in “An Inspector Calls”), to make sure that everyone’s reputations are kept firmly intact, despite the mounting absurdity.
Analisha Santini and Grant Brown (Frau Blucher and Inspector Kemp/Blind Hermit, respectively, in “Young Frankenstein”) are the next to arrive as Cookie and Ernie Cusak, a TV cooking host and her psychoanalyst husband. The farcical accusations and cover-ups continue to spin out of control. Glenn and Cassie Cooper, a bickering political couple, are played by Gabriel Brown (Joseph in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”) and Lexie Plath (Inga in “Young Frankenstein”.) When the police arrive (Blake W. Price and Christian Chambers), it’s time for explanations, no matter how ludicrous they might seem!
Director Bertelsen said, “The dream cast we have assembled for this play brings it to new comedic heights. Audiences already love them for their past work at TLP, and I think people are going to continue to be blown away by their talents. Neil Simon’s success as a comedic playwright and screenwriter is unmatched. His work includes “The Odd Couple,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “Biloxi Blues,” “The Goodbye Girl,” “Sweet Charity,” “The Out-of-Towners,” and “Promises, Promises.” He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for “Lost In Yonkers.”
Shown left-to-right are (standing) Christian Chambers, Blake W. Price, Matt Webb, Lexie Plath; (seated) Grant Brown, Caroline Murrah, Cody Jolly, Gabriel Brown, Analisha Santini; Ffalling down) Allison Hunt, stars of “Rumors.”
