Leading Ladies: Lots of Laughs at SHS

This past Friday and Saturday night, the Scarsdale High School Drama Club put on its third and final play for the year, "Leading Ladies," which is written by Ken Ludwig and premiered at The Alley Theatre in 2004.

This gut-busting comedy follows two down-on-their-luck English Shakespearean actors, Jack, played by Egzon Muja, and Leo, played by Dillon Orlando. To try to earn a little money, they perform "Scenes from Shakespeare" on the Moose Lodge circuit in Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady, played by Catherine Zhao, in York, P.A. is about to die and leave part of her fortune to her two long lost English nephews, Max and Steve, the actors resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble is, while on their way to York, they hear from a friend of the woman's family, Audrey, played by Mary Cecil, that the relatives aren't nephews, but nieces!

To their surprise, "Max" is short for "Maxine," and "Steve" for "Stephanie." After a lot of pleading, Leo convinces Jack that they should still pretend to be the old woman's relatives by dressing as the women. Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady's vivacious niece, Meg, played by Isabella Bailey, despite her engagement to Reverend Wooly, played by Marco Pompa. Leo's and Jack's desperate attempts to keep themselves under cover (and in high heels) had the audience non-stop laughing.

These actors and actresses, along with the other members of the cast, Michael Hoffman, Eliot Huh, Alexa Trujillo, and Eliza Auchincloss, and the Tech Director, Steve Bogardus, and crew, Josh Cohen, Alex Hart, Karina Schepis, Nina Zacharia, Ilana Tamir, Jack Baldinger, Patrick Dwyer, and Maddie Hart, worked hard for months, with many time constraints. With the help of the club's advisor, Sarah Robbins, as director and Robby Chappell and Daniella Ashman as assistant directors, they performed what Ashman called, "One of the hardest, but funniest, Drama Club productions of which I've ever been a part."

Sadly, it is too late to see this amazing show, but be on the lookout for details about next year's musical to premiere in late November! (Photos by Jon Thaler -- see more here.)