Backstage Notes Theatre Victoria Newsletter March 2018

Leading Ladies

by Ken Ludwig

Jack and Leo, two English Shakespearean actors, are down on their luck. They have been reduced to

performing “Scenes from Shakespeare” on the Moose Lodge Circuit in Pennsylvania.

They hear about an old lady in York, PA, who is about to die and leave her fortune to long lost English

nephews. They decide to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the money.

The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren’t nephews but nieces!

Romantic entanglements abound when Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady’s niece, Meg,

who’s engaged to the local minister. Meg knows that there’s a wide world out there, but it’s not until she

meets “Maxine and Stephanie” that she finally gets a taste of it.

A bit of jumbled up Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, and Some Like it Hot—what’s not to love!

Leading Ladies was first co-produced by Cleveland Playhouse and the Alley Theatre in Houston in 2004.

The Cast: * Theatre Victoria debut

Henry Emiliano—Leo Michael Teer—Jack Aimee Ford—Meg *

John Michael Urbano—Duncan Jaena Manson—Audrey * Johnny Vera—Doc

Joey Ochoa—Butch Bonnie Reeves—Florence * Directed by Karen Locher Stage Manager—Lori Williamson

Talent Show Winners

We are proud to announce the winners of our

2018 youth Talent Show.

They sang, danced, and ukuleleid into our

hearts!

Left to right…

1st Place—Adysen Malek (singing & played the

ukulele)

2nd Place—Vanessa Leath (monologue)

3rd Place—Moriah Chicamcham (singing)

People’s Choice—Addison & Tyler Ferry

(singing)

About the Author of Leading Ladies—Ken Ludwig

Ken Ludwig is a two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright whose work is performed throughout the world in more than thirty countries and over twenty languages. He has written twenty-five plays and musicals, with six Broadway productions and seven in London’s West End. His first Broadway play, Lend Me A Tenor, won two Tony Awards and was called "one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post. He has received commissions from the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Globe and the Bristol Old Vic, and he is a Sallie B. Goodman Fellow of the McCarter Theatre in Princeton. His awards include the Charles MacArthur Award, the Helen Hayes Award, the 2017 Samuel French Award for Sustained Excellence in the American Theatre, the SETC Distinguished Career Award, the Edgar Award for Best Mystery of the Year, and the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theater. His book How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare, published by Penguin/Random House, won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book of the Year, and his essays are published by the Yale Review. His plays and musicals include

Crazy For You (5 years on Broadway, Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical), Moon Over Buffalo (Broadway and West End, starring Carol Burnett, Lynn Redgrave and Joan Collins), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Broadway starring Kristen Bell), Treasure Island (West End), Twentieth Century (Broadway starring Alec Baldwin), Leading Ladies, The Game’s Afoot, A Fox on the Fairway, The Beaux’ Stratagem, Baskerville, and A Comedy of Tenors. In 2017, his adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, written at the request of the Agatha Christie Estate, premiered at the McCarter Theatre, and his newest play, Sherwood opened at The Old Globe. He holds degrees from Harvard and Cambridge Universities. His plays and musicals are produced somewhere in the United States and abroad every night of the year. See www.kenludwig.com

On the Calendar

March 15—Submission period for 2nd Annual Playwriting Competition closes

April 19-22—Performances of Leading Ladies by Ken Ludwig

May 24—Jr Co end of season performance of Godspell by Stephen Schwartz

June 4-23—T3 Summer Camp

July 20—28—Performances of Grease

Read more about everything on our website

May 14-15 7:00pm

Welder Center