A popular comedy-farce gets a few tweaks as well as an all-new cast and director for its reprise that begins next week.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published October 15, 2004
Anything worth doing once is worth doing twice.
That's the theory behind Richey Suncoast Theatre's reprise of the Ray Cooney comedy-farce Wife Begins at 40, opening Thursday for a three-weekend run.
The show was produced at the theater in 1998 and, despite production flaws, was very popular with audiences. So the theater board decided to bring it back, with an all-new cast and a new director, Carlos Warner.
"It's hysterically funny," Warner said.
In it, George and Linda Harper (Ken Murrin, Moon Over Buffalo, and Betsy Glasson, Victor/Victoria) are about to celebrate a significant wedding anniversary. George thinks all is fine - after all, they have a nice home, new carpet and drapes they got on sale - but Linda is among the bored and the restless.
Their neighbors Roger and Betty (Paul Nessler, I Hate Hamlet, and Toni Saperstein, Don't Dress for Dinner), throw the Harpers an anniversary party, but George sees the party as a chance to confess to long-ago marital infidelity and Linda sees it as a chance to announce she wants a divorce.
That's the setup for this very grownup show, which talks about sex, sex, and more sex - but all in a humorous way.
Warner is confident his cast will do a bang-up job with the show.
"When I first read (the script), I knew it was something I wanted to be in or direct," Warner said. Warner has both directed (Don't Dress for Dinner) and acted (Linus in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Michael in I Do! I Do!), and the board offered him the director's spot. He grabbed it.
"When I knew Betsy and Ken would be in it, I said, "That's it.' They have a chemistry between them - they can pick out things and make them fun. And I don't have to worry about them learning their lines."
Warner has equal praise for his supporting cast. Both Nessler and Ms. Saperstein were off book by the second week of rehearsals.
"They are both so intent on doing a good job, they don't let the book get in the way," he said. He has similar kudos for the other supporting players: Howard O'Neill, who plays George's father Bernard; and Kenny Irons, who plays the Harpers' teenaged son Leonard.
"Howard has a deep, resonate voice that I just loved when I was casting him," Warner said. As for Irons, "He's fun to work with and he has a great time with the cast."
Cooney and co-writers Arne Sultan and Earl Barret wrote the show in their native British vernacular, and the colloquialisms caused the American cast much consternation.
"(The cast) read the script one night and there was so much we didn't understand, we thought, if we don't understand it, and we have been in many British plays, the audience won't get it," Warner said. So they dropped the English accents and changed some of the unfamiliar language.
For example, in one scene, the characters are talking about getting inebriated.
"The English call it "getting pissed,' which, over here, means getting angry," Warner said. "So we changed it to plain old "drunk'."
In another scene, Bernard tells Betty to "steady the buffs," which the cast changed to "hey, hold on." In another, Betty calls Roger "you long streak," which apparently means "you stupid idiot" or some such, Warner said, so that's been changed.
Another script change was made to accommodate one of the performers.
"There's a dog in the show, and we got the dog that played in Annie," Warner said. Theater enthusiasts Ed and Lenoir Kessler's golden retriever is named Harley, but the dog in the show is named Gertie.
"We changed the name to Harley, so Harley will come when people call."
If you go
WHAT: Wife Begins at 40
WHERE: Richey Suncoast Theatre, 6237 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey
WHEN: Thursdays and weekends Oct. 22-Nov. 7. Shows are at 8 p.m., except Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
TICKETS: $15, reserved seating. Box office is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and an hour before each show. Call (727) 842-6777.
