LEADING LADIES

BY ED BRUCE edbrucevegas

In the 1930's Roosevelts CCC program built national facilities in Custer State park in South Dakota...barracks and a theatre...in 1941 the University of South Dakota obtained the property for a summer arts program...in 2010 the facilities wore out and wore down and summer theatre plays were after 69 years put on hold there. Upgrades and financing in the perfect rural facility in progress.

Not to worry..... summer theatre in the Black Hills of South Dakota moved on and moved on well.

July 1 in the Hill City high school theatre was opening night and with the exception of being two minutes late it never missed a beat.

Leading Ladies, a comedy spoof review opened in the genre of first class theatre in all ways. I have reviewed plays everywhere including the University of South Dakota, my alma mater....the Black Hills playhouse and everywhere else...this play was first class in every way !

Ken Ludwig wrote this gem a couple decades ago it plays well as defined here "Leading Ladies ...A Comedy ...Brent Barrett and Erin Dilly starred in this hilarious comedy about two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, who find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing "Scenes from Shakespeare" on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady in York, PA is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren't nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady’s vivacious niece, Meg, who’s engaged to the local minister. Meg knows that there’s a wide world out there, but it’s not until she meets “Maxine and Stephanie” that she finally gets a taste of it. Leading Ladies premiered at the Alley Theatre in October 2004, directed by the author. " Not mine but about right.

First class production, acting, choreography, costumes, sets, rehearsals and all done in this perfect high school theatre...THANK YOU for great entertainment...after find my wife yet another great success story from the University of South Dakota.

97 A+

TRY THIS FOR MORE PLAYS AND DATES ON THIS GENRE...http://www.travelsd.com/Attractions/Black-Hills-Playhouse.dr