''Leading Ladies'' is a comedy play by

Ken Ludwig Ken Ludwig is an American playwright and theatre director whose work has been performed in more than 30 countries in over 20 languages. Personal life Ken Ludwig was born in York, Pennsylvania. His father was a doctor and his mother was a former B ...

. It involves two Shakespearean actors who find themselves in the Amish country of York, Pennsylvania, mounting Shakespeare plays. The play, a co-production of the

Alley Theatre The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at L ...

(Houston) and The Cleveland Play House, premiered in 2004, directed by Ludwig.

Synopsis

Set in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, Pennsylvania in 1958, this

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

centers on two down-on-their-luck

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

an actors, Leo Clark and Jack Gable. The pair discover through a newspaper that Florence, an older ailing woman, has been unable to find Max and Steve, her sister's children who moved away to England as children in order to include them in her multimillion-dollar inheritance. They decide to pose as Max and Steve to claim portions of it. When they discover that "Max" and "Steve" are actually "Maxine" and "Stephanie," they continue on, undaunted, in drag. Leo falls for Florence's actual niece Meg, while Jack swoons over Florence's part-time aide Audrey. Florence recovers just as the pair arrives, but they decide to keep on, both to try to outlast her health and to stay close to the objects of their interest. Leo convinces Meg, who is enamored of Shakespeare and a fan of Jack and Leo, to put on a production at Florence's estate, to give himself more of an opportunity to be with her, both as Leo and Maxine. Meanwhile, Meg's fiancé Duncan grows increasingly suspicious of the "Leading Ladies." On the night of the production, a telegram arrives at the house stating that the real Maxine and Stephanie will arrive that night. Leo's plan to use Jack-as-Stephanie to seduce Duncan in front of Meg and stop their marriage fails when Audrey accidentally gives the family doctor a "love note" meant for Duncan. The telegram ends up in the hands of Duncan, who gloats at the opportunity to get rid of the two impostors. Meg confesses to "Maxine" that she loves her, prompting him and Jack to consult each other while in costume as women, which Meg and Audrey accidentally eavesdrop on and discover the true identities of their "cousins". An angry Audrey confronts Jack, but when he breaks down and apologizes, she accepts his marriage proposal. The same occurs with Meg and Leo, but Meg tells Leo he needs to run, as the real cousins are due to arrive. However, the police arrest the "real cousins", identifying them as two notorious con artists. To Duncan's horror, Leo (still in character as Maxine) and Meg announce that they're getting married. After Florence scares everyone by seeming to have died for a minute, everyone suddenly remembers that they're supposed to be putting on a play and prepare to begin the show. (Some productions include a final scene in which a frantic and short version of ''Twelfth Night'' is performed by the cast.)

Productions

The play premiered at The Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas in October 2004. Directed by Ludwig, the costumes were by Judith Dolan and sets by Neil Patel. The play played an engagement at the Cleveland Playhouse in September 2004.Hernandez, Ernio
"Ken Ludwig's 'Leading Ladies' with Lauria, Barrett, Connell, Dilly Plays Houston's Alley, Oct. 15"
Playbill, October 15, 2004

Simonson, Robert Robert Simonson (born September 11, 1964) is an American journalist and author. Personal life Robert Simonson was born in Wisconsin; he has lived in Brooklyn since 1988. Career Robert Simonson began writing about cocktails, spirits and bars for ...

Ken Ludwig Now Slated to Direct Own Leading Ladies at Alley and Cleveland"
playbill.com, May 14, 2004Evans, Everett
" 'Leading Ladies' "
''Houston Chronicle'', October 22, 2004 The cast: *

Erin Dilly Erin Dilly (born May 12, 1972) is an American actress. She is most noted for her portrayal of Truly Scrumptious in the 2005 musical ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'', for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actr ...

— Meg *

Brent Barrett Brent Barrett (born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and tenor who is mostly known for his work within American theatre. Barrett has performed in musicals and in concerts with theatres, symphony orchestras, opera houses, and concert halls ...

— Leo/"Maxine" *Christopher Duva — Jack/"Stephanie" * Lacey Kohl — Audrey *

Mark Jacoby Mark Jacoby (born May 21, 1947) is an American musical theatre performer. He has achieved fame from his leading roles on Broadway theatre, Broadway in ''Show Boat'', ''The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical), The Phantom of the Opera'' and ''Ra ...

— Duncan *

Jane Connell Jane Sperry Connell (pronounced con-NELL, née Bennett; October 27, 1925 – September 22, 2013) was an American actress and singer. Early years Connell was born in Berkeley, California, to Louis Wesley and Mary (née Sperry) Bennett. She majo ...

— Florence *

Dan Lauria Daniel Joseph Lauria (born April 12, 1947) is an American actor, known for playing the role of Jack Arnold in ''The Wonder Years'' (1988–1993), Jack Sullivan on '' Sullivan and Son'' (2012–2014), and Al Luongo on '' Pitch'' (2016–2017). Ea ...

— Doc * Tim McGeever — Butch

Other productions

;Divadlo Na Fidlovačce, Prague *Czech name: V korzetu pro tetu. Directed by Petr Rychlý. The play had premiere 10 September 2009. *

Megan McCormick Megan Leah McCormick (born August 8, 1972) is an American TV presenter, who is one of the main hosts of the Pilot Productions travel-adventure series ''Globe Trekker'' (also called ''Pilot Guides'' in Australia, Canada and the United States and or ...

.... Meg * Marek Holý .... Leo * Denny Ratajský .... Jack *

Zuzana Vejvodová Zuzana Vejvodová (born 19 September 1980, Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech actress.Zdeněk A. Tichý, Helena Šimáčková, Boris Hlaváček, ''Obrozené divadlo : Divadlo Na Fidlovačce 1921-2001'', ASA 2001, In 2000 she graduated from Prag ...

.... Audrey *

Daniel Rous Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew language, Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel (given ...

.... Duncan * Lilian Malkina .... Florence *

Václav Svoboda Václav Svoboda (born 16 September 1999) is a Czech footballer who plays as a right-back. Club career Svoboda made his professional Czech First League debut for 1. FK Příbram against FK Teplice FK Teplice is a Czech football club based in ...

.... Doctor ;Kanata Theatre, Ottawa, ON * Mark Linder .... Leo * Andrew Williams .... Jack ;The Gateway Theatre, Richmond, BC * Luisa Jojic .... Meg *

Peter Jorgensen Peter Jorgensen (born 30 April 1973) is an Australian former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer. Background Jorgensen was educated at Newington College (1980–86) and St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill. Playing career A r ...

.... Leo * Allan Zynik .... Jack *

Tara Davis Tara may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tara'' (1992 film), an Indian film directed by Bijaya Jena * ''Tara'' (2001 film), an American film, also known as ''Hood Rat'', directed by Leslie Small * ''Tara'' (2010 film), a ...

.... Audrey * Jenifer Darbellay .... Stephanie * William Samples .... Doctor *Chris Robson .... Reverend Wooley ;Mariebergsskogen Karlstad, Sweden *

Joakim Nätterqvist Dag Joakim Tedson Nätterqvist (; born 24 October 1974) is a Swedish actor, theatre director, musical artist, singer, and acting coach. Background Nätterqvist was born in Gamla Uppsala. He is the son of competitive equestrians Ted and Pia Le ...

.... Leo *

Göran Gillinger Anders Göran Gillinger (born 13 February 1973) is a Swedish actor and former model. He has a broad background in classical theatre, television and film. Career Gillinger was born in Vaxholm, Stockholms län in 1973. In 1993, at the age of 19, h ...

.... Jack *

Sara Sommerfeld Sara Anita Sommerfeld (born 28 October 1977) is a Swedish actress. Sara Sommerfeld was born in Sollentuna north of Stockholm. Her parents are Polish-Jewish immigrants who came to Sweden in 1968. Sara Sommerfeld started as a child actress at ...

.... Meg

References

External links

Ken LudwigWebsite of Fidlovačka Theatre, Prague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leading Ladies Comedy plays Plays by Ken Ludwig 2004 plays