Rumors

Mar. 8 - Apr. 14, 2013

Directed by Joe Theissen. Ticket Prices: $30/adults, $27.00/Senior.

"Not only side splitting, but front and back splitting." - NBC-TV

"Has nothing on its mind except making the audience laugh." - The New York Times

"Light, frothy and fun." - New York Post

Lakewood Theatre Company’s 2012-2013 Season continues with the Neil Simon farce Rumors, a play that looks at the problems friends can get into when protecting their reputations.

Performances of Rumors begin March 8 and continue through April 14, 2013 with the following schedule: Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM; Sundays at 7:00 PM (March 10, 17, 24); Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM (March 17, 24 and April 7, 14). There are no performances on Sunday March 31, 2013 (Easter).

The show sponsor is: The Lakewood Center Associates

Click below for a sampling of the show:

I wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed the play Sunday evening. We thought the actors did a terrific job and timing was excellent.

We, as what seemed to be the entire audience, laughed from beginning to end. We have seen several Neil Simon comedies and this one, like the others, was very enjoyable. Keep up the excellent work at Lakewood.

- Lakewood subscriber

Please note: this play contains some adult language.

The Story: Neil Simon’s comic concoction takes us to a dinner party at the home of Charlie and Myra Brock to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, but Charlie (the Deputy Mayor of NY) is lying upstairs with a bullet hole in his ear lobe, and Myra is nowhere to be seen.

The first guests to arrive are his lawyer, Ken (Darius Pierce) and wife Chris (Brooke Lynn Calcagno) who discover their host bleeding in the other room with a flesh wound. To make matters worse the help is gone and dinner sits unprepared in the kitchen. They decide to cover up the potentially explosive incident but the task is nearly impossible.

The wall of secrecy crumbles as more couples arrive, including Claire and Lenny Ganz (Pam Mahon and Jeff Gorham) and therapist Ernie Cusack (Garland Lyons) and his wife, a cooking show hostess named Cookie (Rani Lightle).

By the time Glenn and Cassie Cooper (Brian Williams and Kelly Godell) arrive, the scandal stew is boiling in the living room as Cookie gamely prepares dinner in the kitchen.

Trying to discover the truth are two police officers (Bud Reece and Ollie Bergh), who get confused by the imaginative but hilariously conflicting explanations of what has happened. Rumors is a delightful comedy of human foibles.

Written by Neil Simon, Rumors is directed by Joe Theissen. The production team includes Michael DeMaio, stage manager; Jeff Seats, set design; Allison Dawe, costume design; Kurt Herman, light design/technical director; and Kay Vega, producer.