LA Review: 'Leading Ladies'

It would be easy to presume that "Leading Ladies," billed as a cross between "Some Like It Hot" and Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," is just another men-in-drag farce. However, Ken Ludwig's facile handling of his premise and of a variety of story and character elements allows the play to transcend the tired cliché of guys dressing up as women. We also get a generous helping of the playwright's pet theme of depicting show-biz folks as vain, erratic, and fallible, similarly on display in "Lend Me a Tenor" and "Moon Over Buffalo," as well as in Ludwig's adaptation of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's "Twentieth Century."

Set in Pennsylvania in the early 1950s, the action starts with Leo Clark (David Engel) and Jack Gable (John J. Joseph), a couple of down-at-heel Shakespearean actors, languishing on the Moose Lodge circuit, where their hammy overacting turns off an already hostile audience. When they learn that an elderly woman in the town of York has died, the desperate, perpetually broke duo decides to impersonate Max and Steve, the British nephews to whom she has bequeathed a fortune. Learning that the nephews are really nieces, Maxine and Stephanie, doesn't deter them. They break out their finest female garb along with lipstick, rouge, and face powder.

Other surprises await the duo: The old lady, Florence (Katherine McKalip), is actually still alive. Her beautiful niece Meg (Jamison Lingle) adores Shakespeare and pines for the life of an actor, causing Leo to fall for her. Jack likewise meets his dream girl, Meg's best friend, Audrey (Lyndsi LaRose). Meg is engaged, Audrey has a beau, and both think the two guys are femmes, adding to the plot's complications. Subtext on the themes of art and appearances lurks just below the surface slapstick.

Director Richard Israel mounts an effervescent and wholly engaging production that sparkles from first moment to last. His high-octane octet of actors displays superb timing in both line delivery and in effecting the play's boisterous physical aspects. Engel and Joseph are a study in contrasts. Engel's Leo is a polished ladies man, all high-toned speech and mannerisms, while his Maxine is an ostentatious odd duck. Joseph's Jack is a dour little Brit who hates the idea of masquerading as a woman; his Stephanie is thus a gauche, frightful hag, with tangled hair and awkward movements.

The objects of their affections are likewise dissimilar. As Meg, Lingle is cute, bright, and vivacious, sensuous yet innocent, while LaRose's Audrey is endearingly ditsy. The remaining characters are essentially straight men for the starring quartet's antics. Daniel Lench's Duncan Wooley, the snippety, hidebound local minister engaged to Meg, who isn't fooled for a second by Leo and Jack, is a classic foil. Don Oscar Smith parlays the character of the blunt, rough-hewn, inept Doc Myers into some fun wacky bits. As Doc's son Butch, Corey Craig is funniest in depicting the young man's abominably bad acting in the "Twelfth Night" performance that Leo/Maxine and Meg have cooked up. McKalip's Florence lends stability and imperiousness to the proceedings.

The visual elements—Staci Walters' set, Kim DeShazo's costumes, Anthony Gagliardi's hair and wig designs, Jeremy Pivnick's lighting—are all of a piece. The swift scene changes are cleverly accompanied by enjoyable American pop tunes of the early '50s. This is a supremely self-assured, wholly first-rate staging that makes the most of Ludwig's genius for farce.

Presented by and at International City Theatre, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. June 8–July 1. Thu.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. (562) 436-4610 or www.internationalcitytheatre.org. Casting by Michael Donovan.