A dinner party? A BMW? A gunshot? It sounds like Tempest Theatre is putting on another show to remember.
“Rumors” is a comedy written by Neil Simon that premiered in 1988. It follows four socialite couples attending a dinner party for their friends’ tenth wedding anniversary, but their hosts are nowhere to be found. Chris and Ken Gorman first discover what happened, and they plan to cover it up. As the couples arrive one by one, rumors begin to spread about the hosts’ whereabouts, and chaos quickly ensues.
The show is directed by Kristin Wolanin, a professional actress and director from the Lancaster area. Junior Sarah Jakubowski is the student director.
The cast and crew alike enjoyed this show, saying they were looking to put on a comedy.
“We needed something humorous. We needed a funny play!” Wolanin said.
Potential spectators should keep in mind that this show is rated PG-13. It contains adult language, adult themes and mentions of suicide. For this reason, “Rumors” is not recommended for children.
There will be showings at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 8, 9, 15, 16, and at 3 p.m. on Nov. 10 and 16.
This show was made possible by Sock & Buskin, the Elizabethtown College theater club, and Etown’s chapter of Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society.
The show features Laney Humble as Chris Gorman, Nate Kubasko as Ken Gorman, Rachel Merchiore as Claire Ganz, Nicholas Jacobs as Lenny Ganz, Jonah McDonald as Glenn Cooper, Delaney Peckham as Cassie Cooper, Emily Clark as Ernie Cusack, Allison Bushey as Cookie Cusack and Sofia Brzezicki and Claire Grau as Officers Welch and Pudney.
Jakubowski says that she has had a great experience while acting as the student director for “Rumors.” “I’ve been doing a lot of shadowing Kristin and learning from her about the ins and outs of directing. I’ve overseen a couple of creative decisions, I help manage the actors, and I am Kristin’s eyes when she’s not here,” she said.
As of Nov. 7, the set is finally complete. The entire project was started just after Labor Day. “They just added flooring and trim around the house, put a second coat on all the white paint, and put wood finish on the flooring and on the coffee table,” sound assistant Madie Cannon said.
The set is impressively large and intricate. It features the inside of a two-story house with a staircase and multiple doors leading backstage. The play uses this set to its advantage by having different characters disappear into rooms, allowing different combinations of characters to further discuss the matter of the hosts’ disappearance.
The crew has put a lot of thought into the set, and this can clearly be seen when watching the show. All of the doors are carefully angled so that the audience cannot see the plethora of wooden beams, machinery and props from their seats.
The props are impressive as well, thanks to props masters Elise McCann and Cam Mooney. There are a lot of alcohol bottles sitting on a table on set, which are filled with water dyed to look like real alcoholic drinks. This attention to detail is continued with the other props, down to the crumbs left on the dinner plates. They have also installed a working telephone.
All of the sound and lights come from the booth above the audience. The sound effects that come from backstage, such as the cars, the doorbell and the gunshot, come from speakers placed behind each door. For each car’s arrival, the sound and lights teams work in tandem to create the illusion of a car pulling up into the driveway.
During their dress rehearsal on Sunday, Nov. 3, the actors were in full costume. All of the party guests are wearing formal suits and dresses that were repurposed from the Theatre’s costume shop. The cast made it through the entire rehearsal without stumbling over or forgetting their lines.
Even before this show was announced early on into the semester, the cast and crew have been hard at work to perfect their performances.
Tickets can be purchased at https://cur8.com/projects/19433.
