Vaudeville Variety Show at the Opera House Theatre
The Opera House Theatre’s summer season is in full swing, bringing a rotating menu of comic relief to the Philipsburg stage at 7 p.m. Thursdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 28.
Music director D.J. Gommels and the OHT cast, featuring Nathan Adkins, Tim Eastman, Samantha St. Onge, Linda Grinde, Mason Wagner and Susannah Faherty, offer a fresh version of the ever-popular Vaudeville Variety Show, which guarantees comedy, music, skits, hilarity and hijinks.
“Making God Laugh” depicts one typical American family over the course of 30 year’s worth of holidays. Starting in l980, Ruthie and Bill’s grown children — a priest, an aspiring actress and a former football star — all return home each year, and share their plans and dreams as they embark on their adult lives. The empty-nester parents contend with their own changes too, as old family rituals are trotted out and ancient tensions flare up. As time passes, the family discovers that, despite what we may have in mind, we often arrive at unexpected destinations. This powerful play, written by Sean Grennan and directed by Carrie Ann Mallino, is both poignant and humorous.
Third show splices mix-ups and mayhem
The Opera House Theatre’s third offering for the 2016 summer season is “Unnecessary Farce” – the laugh-laden tale of two cops, three crooks and eight doors.
In a cheap motel room, an embezzling mayor is supposed to meet with his female accountant, while in the room next-door, two undercover cops wait to catch the meeting on videotape. But there’s some confusion as to who’s in which room, who’s being videotaped, who’s taken the money, who’s hired a hit man, and why the accountant keeps taking off her clothes.
Author Paul Slade Smith has mastered the comic shtick of in-one-door and out-the-other while the plot splices mix-ups and mayhem, all under the skillful guidance of director Don Mogstad.
For schedule and ticket information visit www.operahousetheatre.com or call 406-859-0013.