Vienna's 'Rumors' is hilarious

Steve Rosenthal is Ernie Cusack, the husband of Cookie (Anne Hilleary), right, in Vienna Theatre Company's Rumors/By Eddie Page

 Football game?

What football game? Who's talking football?

There was an important football game in the DMV on Sunday but who was minding the television? There was a lot more action in the games on stage at the Vienna Theatre Company where players were flying high and fast! 

Who's talking? Who cares?

Well, they were all were talking, some at the same time in Neil Simon's play Rumors presented to a packed house on Sunday afternoon.

From left, Kate Bierly is Cassie Cooper; Dave Wright is Lenny Ganz; Anne Brodnax is Claire Ganz, and Liz Owerbach is Chris Gorman in Vienna Theatre Company's Rumors/By Eddie Page

The play is a one-night stand on a summer evening in New York when words and actions go awry as Rumors’ characters try to sort out what's going on. 

Leave it to Neil Simon to make merry from stress.

Four couples meet at Myra and Charley’s house to help the happy couple celebrate their 10th anniversary, but, … where was Myra? 

And Charley?  He was missing, too.

A gun goes off, and soon another! (Prepare yourselves for really loud bang, bangs with bang!  bang! adult language.)

Ken (Ilan Komrad) and Chris (Liz Owerbach) are the first party goers to arrive and discover Charley is hurt, but is he still alive?

They try to hide the truth, if only they knew it. Ken soon loses his hearing due to another gunshot blast and repeats what he thinks he is hearing but he's not.  

(With the dynamism of a talking human volcano and under the directorship of Eddie Page, Komrad’s antics and expressionism while he weaves on the second floor from bedroom to bathroom and back again are wild comic scenes.)

Meanwhile, Chris patiently puts up with her husband’s sudden peculiarities to welcome Lenny (Dave Wright) and Claire (Kim Paul) who've been in a car accident in Lenny’s brand new BMW and into the fold of lies and super lies they fall at the party. (Or, is it a wake?)

Arriving next are the funniest couple, the oldest, the most doddering, Ernie (Steve Rosenthal) and Cookie (Anne Hilleary), who well display the mannerisms of old folks.

Cookie has an aching back and can’t find her grandmother's precious earrings. 

Wait!  What’s this? She's holding them in her hand.

And here comes the youngest but certainly not the lovingest couple, Glenn (Nick Koutris) and Cassie (Kate Bierly), who argue over ... what else? You got it! Crystals! Yes, crystals! (You have to be there.)

The couples bicker and lash out at themselves, trying to cover tracks and spill the beans to the...oh, no!

Here come the cops in the form of Officer Welch (Christian Aguilar) and more police to question the circumstances and for sure, Aguilar is so real as a cop, he’s gotta be a real cop with his long drawn and suspicious speech, holding his belt while he ambles in the parlor, walking around from side to side.

Whatever can the anniversary party tell the police?

It’s an entertaining show that gains momentum with each passing scene, as one couple after another enters, argues and becomes confused by the crime.  

What crime?

Michelle Harris dresses the actors to the nines for the festive occasion. Lighting director Ari McSherry has hands working fast to shine on those commanding the stage which are all of them.

Charles Dragonette composed a realistic parlor and upstairs setting, complete with bar and fluttering art of flowers on the walls to set the stage for flittering flirtations of flames, but who’s talking?

Affairs? Who?

Bob Hannan's skillfully designed sounds of cars, phones, and crashes complement the fun. 

Other production team members are Margaret Chapman, properties; Art Snow, special effects; Adrienne Kammer and George Farnsworth, set construction.

Vienna is fortunate to have one last weekend of this hilarity to leave you smiling when you exit the doors. 

What: Rumors by Neil Simon

When: 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2025 and 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025

Where: Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., SE, Vienna, VA 22180 (703) 255-6360.


How much: $16.


For more information: vtcshows@yahoo.com or call the Community Center, ph. 703-255-6360 

Patricialesli@gmail.com

'Rumors' run wild in Alexandria

Starring in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Rumors are, from bottom left up the stairs: Kirk Lambert as Glenn Cooper, Roxanne Waite as Cassie Cooper, Peter Halverson as Ernie Cusack, Janice Rivera as Cookie Cusack. On the top landing from left: Stephanie Chu Rudden as Chris Gorman, Mike Rudden as Ken Gorman, Jayne L. Victor as Claire Ganz and Mike Donahue as Lenny Ganz/photo by Matthew Randall

With Neil Simon (1927-2018) driving the content and four dressed-up New York couples ready to party-hearty, what do you expect? 

It's an evening of hilarious Shakespearean farce at the Little Theatre of Alexandria, enough to make you forget about the day's troubles for a while and don't we all need that?

The laughs begin almost immediately in Rumors when real-life husband and wife Mike Rudden and Stephanie Chu Rudden as the Gormans start the action. 

Ken Gorman has discovered a problem. 

Help!  There's a crime underway!  

It takes only moments for three more couples to arrive at Charlie and Myra's to celebrate the couple's 10th wedding anniversary, but where are Charlie and Myra? 

And (more importantly), where is the food?  Thank goodness, the liquor is available.

Rumors run rampant. 

It's a laugh, a conflict, and expletive-a-minute.

Almost stealing the show is Mike Donahue as Lenny Ganz who delivers a strong commanding performance, but please, the "adult" words! Skimming the script, I don't find them. Are they supposed to make the production more timely?  Ouch!  My ears are aching.  I cannot imagine any party where this offensive language is heard so often.

But, officer!  My brand-new BMW with only 12 miles has been wrecked!

As supporting spouse, Mr. Donahue's real-life and stage wife, Jayne L. Victor, nicely augments her husband's role. 

Peter Halverson is Ernie Cusack, the realistic and dazed husband of "Cookie" (Janice Rivera), a charming, spacy actor who is laugh-a-minute every time she utters a line, reminiscent of SNL's "girl at a party."   

Hairdresser Rebecca Harris has designed a pyramid wig for the head of "Cassie" (Roxanne Waite) who enters the party performing a balancing act worthy of an Olympic contest. 

A metamorphosis in the bathroom crystalizes her personality as a slithering woman who needs the comfort of anyone but her husband (Kirk Lambert). 

Whatever shall we do?  

No food, no celebrants, but a crime is underway and here come the cops, with Joe Dzikiewics as Officer Welch leading an investigation, usurped by the wild exaggerations and animated gestures of his silent partner, Eileen Copas as Officer Pudney.

Seated are Peter Halverson as Ernie Cusack and Janice Rivera as Cookie Cusack; standing from left are Joe Dzikiewicz as Officer Welch, Mike Rudden as Ken Gorman, and Eileen Copas as Officer Pudney in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Rumors/photo by Matthew Randall

Everyone is formally attired (applause to designer Judy Whelihan), able to overlook red spots on white shirts. (I don't know why I find theater more enjoyable when characters are dressed for the ball, and ball they have in Rumors.)

Sound engineer Alan Wray has his hands full, ringing the too-loud doorbell. And the phone. (That phone conflicts with the timing of the show if expletives were added to make it more "contemporary.")  

Charles Dragonette has created an exquisite set for the prancing and dancing of the couples in this circus. Scene changes, not necessary. 

It's an enjoyable time with these quartets, enough to make you laugh out loud which is not only good for the soul but good for the heart, too.  

Fun at the theatre returns! And to accommodate the new mood, the Little Theatre is selling extra seating. 

Other crew members are Matthew Randall, director; Nick Friedlander and Jennifer Lyman, producers; Sarah Holt, assistant producer; Lauren Markovich and Meggie Webster, stage managers; Julie Fischer and Dan Remmers, set construction; Kirstin Apker, props; Ken and Patti Crowley, lighting; Sam Jensen, master electrician;  Larissa Norris, makeup; Margaret Snow, wardrobes; Mona Wargo, set painting; and Russell M. Wyland, rigging.

What:  Rumors by Neil Simon

When: Now through August 14, 2021, Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. Some shows, nearing sellouts.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.

Tickets: $21, weekdays; $24, weekends.

Duration: About 2 hours with one intermission. 

Adult language:  Yes and plenty of it. Totally gratuitous.

Masks: Required.  No exceptions.

Public transportation: Check the Metro and Dash bus websites.

Parking: On the streets and in many garages nearby with free parking during performances at Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets.

For more information: Box Office: 703-683-0496; Business: 703-683-5778.

boxoffice@thelittletheatre.com or Asklta@thelittletheatre.com 

patricialesli@gmail.com