When All Else Fails, Put Men In Dresses

There's call for plays like "Leading Ladies." Clearly. The audience at TheatreWorks in New Milford last week laughed out loud at every pratfall, mugging, double take, misstep, feint and giddy recoil that director Michael Bolinski could summon from his cast. Never mind that this 2004 comedy has but a single plot line, but one that almost never fails: Men dressing as women, in this case two very large and not very gifted Shakespearean actors. Jack, masquerades as Steve (Rob Palikowski), and Leo plays Max (Hal Chernoff).  Both fellows get decked out as British dowagers (for what reason will be made clear in a moment), in Amish country, in 1958. How funny is that?

Well, very, according to the audience. And the actors responded with gusto, crashing around the stage, bent on keeping hilarity afloat. 

The play opens with the demure Meg (Carey Van Hollen) gliding down the central staircase, losing, by mistake, her demure little hat along the way. She loves theater and is delighted to run into the actors because she wants to stage Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," a complicated play about twins, a shipwreck, a girl pretending to be a boy, another girl falling for the boy who is really a girl and so on. But trust me, when it comes to "Leading Ladies," mistaken identities do not a Shakepeare play make. 

In "Leading Ladies," Meg is engaged to Duncan (Daniel Basiletti), a very uncharitable and stuffy minister. Both of these characters bear little weight here, but are nice to look at. Also, we have Audrey (Victoria Calamito), who plays a dummy by using big words, skating and making funny faces. And we have Florence (Mary Wilson), who may or may not be dead, but if she is, she leaves an enormous fortune to distant (in England) relatives Steve and Max.

So, seeking relief from extreme poverty, the two actors set out to impersonate the heirs. Yes. There's a little catch, though. Steve and Max are Stephanie and Maxine, thus explaining why Jack and Leo spend most of their time on stage in drag.

One character, Butch (Edwin Arce II), is nimble and delightful, small though his part may be. Enlarge his role, director Bolinski. And don't, under any circumstances, tell him what to do.

Ken Ludwig's "Leading Ladies" runs at TheatreWorks New Milford through Oct. 10. For tickets and information, call 860-350-6863, or go to www.theatreworks.us. By the way, Ludwig grew up in Amish Country, Wikipedia tells us.