Leading Ladies

A play by Ken Ludwig. Cleveland Play House - world premiere - through October 3rd

Reviewed by Diane S. Frank

It is not unusual in this community to become a connoisseur of cross-dressed comedies. I've seen "Fanfares of Love" the 1930's German movie on which "Some Like it Hot" was based. I've seen "Some Like it Hot", countless times. Now I've seen Ken Ludwig's "Leading Ladies", a new play that borrows heavily from the character dynamics of those two films. Once again I was struck again by what a really, really, really good film "Some Like it Hot" is and how hard it is for anyone for follow in its high-heeled footsteps. In "Leading Ladies" we're again given two male performing artists, in this case Shakespearian Actors from England, down on their luck, out of cash and looking for their next dime. As their train ambles through Pennsylvania, Jack and Leo (Christopher Duva and Brent Barret) discover that a nearby wealthy and elderly is near death. She is seeking her young relatives- Steve and Max, both of whom were taken away to England at an early age and have never been heard from since. Leo proposes that they impersonate Steve and Max to win the unclaimed fortune. We in the audience know that Steve and Max are really girls, so there is a little suspense built up wondering how the actors will find out that Steve is Stephanie, Max is Maxine, and that they'll have to wear skirts to commit their impersonations.

Just like the two films, one character (Leo/Maxine) is the operator, pushing and manipulating his unwilling partner into the scheme. Many of the key elements of the films are brought out one after the other, most especially, getting out of skirts in order to woo and win the available women. There is even a reverential quote from "Some Like it Hot", where complaining about dancing in heels, Stephanie (Jack) exclaims "It's a whole 'nother sex!". I said a little prayer of thanksgiving that the very stale sight gag of men wobbling in heels was not trotted out, and that both actors moved well in their fully-petticoated flared-skirted 1950's costumes.

And how did they look you are asking? Unfortunately, the press kit I was provided with did not feature any pictures of the cast in costume. Christopher Duva, the smaller of the two male leads, actually made a fetching Stephanie when fully attired in a 50's dress in the second act. There were moments when he was allowed to act in a more natural fashion, not mugging and playing to the house, and not in over-the-top caricature, where you could even see Stephanie as a real side of Jack. Barret was unnecessarily costumed to have more beard shadow after appearing in a dress than before and was forever playing the Diva. I found Barret's Maxine tiresome, and found the personal interest in him expressed by Meg (Erin Dilly) unconvincing. It's perhaps not fair to compare Barret’s character to Tony Curtis' loveable rascal of a saxophone player, but I believed it when Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) declared her fatal attraction to yet another saxophone player, and I didn't believe it when stage-struck Meg did. What was believable was the sense of liberation that Maxine represented compared to Meg’s planned marriage to her stuffy, anal, fortune-hunting Minister (ably played by Mark Jacoby).

The actors in this play are all seasoned veterans, and even with opening night jitters, the performances were of high quality, except for Barret whose delivery was too frequently rushed and unclear. The supporting player's parts were in many ways more interesting than the leads, whose roles seem inevitably bound to the pattern of show's cinematic predecessors. Just as the Chicago Moll, Norma, King Marchand's soon to be ex-girlfriend, steals the show in "Victor/Victoria", Florence (Jane Connell), the dying woman stole the show here. Every hint of a word or entrance from her was moment of joyful anticipation. The earthy country doctor, played with brio by Dan Lauria (from the Wonder Years!) was nicely set against Florence, his patient. In some ways, the bickering between the two was fresher and funnier and more organic than most other bits in the show. The local girl Audrey, Jack's love interest, was another wonderful over-the-top part with lots of room for Lacey Kohl's playful characterization.

According to most critics of cross-dressed bedroom farces, there is generally a message stuck in somewhere. Usually, it works along the line that walking a few miles in the other sex's shoes leaves one a better person. Dustin Hoffman's "Tootsie" stuck with this moral closely. "Some Like It Hot" added the daring ideas that being courted, being wooed by a wealthy, playful attentive lover is something that anyone could get used to. Osgood's closing line, "Nobody's perfect" has that perfect risqué edge for its time in suggesting that love is where you find it even if your intended bride turns out to be a man. "Leading Ladies" may well have had a message for our crowd. At the end it is clear that her supposed heirs didn’t fool the sharp-eyed and acid-tongued Florence for a minute, but she likes them anyway. And for us, I think that's a wonderful take home message. You don't have to fool people to gain acceptance, you have to be likeable, just like any other time.

So go. Go see it now, while you've got first rate actors and a wonderful set and well executed costumes. Because the show uses a limited cast, a simple if elegant set and no fancy lighting, it will become a low budget staple of community theatre all too soon, where you might not get those things. Go. You'll have a good time. The Cleveland Playhouse does have unisex, single occupancy handicapped access bathrooms for those who wish to practice discretion on that issue. The crowd there prides itself on its sophistication and will simply pat itself on the back for being knowing and tolerant if they notice you at all. Go, get out there and be likeable!