Mount Carroll--Timber Lake Playhouse (TLP) presents the side-splitting comedy Rumors Thursday, July 17 through Saturday, July 26 starring ten performers who have quickly become some of the area's favorite comedic actors. 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 the Charlie Brock, deputy mayor of New York City, only to 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 with Glenn and Cassie Cooper, a bickering political couple, 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.
Rumors performs evenings at 7:30 p.m., and there are 2:00 p.m. matinees on Sunday and Wednesday. There is also a Saturday matinee performance on the opening weekend at 3pm. Order tickets through the box office 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. daily at 815-244-2035 or any time at www.timberlakeplayhouse.org.
This program is partially supported by a grant for the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, through federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.###
