If you’re looking for belly laughs that come in fits and leave you wanting more, Mountain Community Theater’s (MCT) production of Neil Simon’s “Rumors” delivers them with dizzying speed, sharp comic timing and a talented cast that brings Simon’s script into hilarious focus.
Directed by MarNae Taylor and running through Oct. 11 at Park Hall in Ben Lomond, “Rumors” takes a seemingly elegant dinner party and converts it into complete chaos.
When four couples arrive at the home of New York deputy mayor Charley Brock and his wife Myra to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary with a dinner party, they discover that something has gone terribly wrong with their hosts, and begin the process of covering for the couple, and each other. The result is a rapidly escalating tangle of mistaken identities, increasingly implausible stories, physical comedy and “rumors” that spin completely out of control, resulting in one of the funniest productions that MCT has ever borne.
With Sarah Marsh, Kyle Wood, Daria E. Troxell, Kip Allert, David Leach, Kate Cunningham, Steven Macramalla, Babe Payne, Noah Bunting-Syren and James Stewart bringing the characters to life, “Rumors” is a showcase of ensemble comedy at its most frantic.
For Marsh, who plays Chris Gorman, that combination is exactly what makes the show so much fun.
“When life feels hard and heavy, laughter is so important and cathartic. This play is so funny, so fast-paced, so cleverly written,” she said. “I remember thinking this show would be a blast to be in one day if a theater company in our area performed it.”
Now she gets to be part of it, and her character has a front-row seat to the unraveling disaster.
“Chris just wants a calm, pleasant evening with her friends at a dinner party and as things start to go awry, you can see her start to lose it,” Marsh said. “She wants to be the glue that keeps everything together but so much is out of her control.”
Allert, who plays Lenny Ganz, brings another source of combustible energy to the party. Allert was encouraged to audition by Taylor, with whom he appeared in “The Addams Family: The Musical” last year.
“I wanted to audition because this script is so fun and MCT is so wonderful,” he said. Allert actually has a long history with Simon’s work and with “Rumors.” He directed the play at Watsonville High School in 2014 after first hearing about it from Taylor.
His character, Lenny, is “an overly emotional, sarcastic, but very loyal jerk who makes cussing an art. He brings a lot of pressure and humor to an already stressful situation with his rude and cutting comments,” Allert said. “The fact that he has whiplash from a car accident he had on the way to the party, and his head is locked in a painful, sideways position, only adds to his frustration.”
For Troxell, returning to the stage as Claire Ganz was an opportunity to reconnect with MCT after appearing in “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” in 2017.
“I wanted to get back on stage and this seemed like a great opportunity to do so,” she said.
Troxell describes Claire as “a gossip queen,” making her particularly important to the ever-turning rumor mill.
“She is integral to the story in that she’s one of the reasons that rumors are going around about Charley,” Troxell said.
The cast’s chemistry is apparent even in rehearsal.
“We have had a great time working on this story,” Troxell said. “We have a strong bond and are very supportive of each other.”
That camaraderie extends to newcomer Bunting-Syren, who plays Officer Welch. Bunting-Syren was drawn to the production thanks to his appreciation of Simon’s work.
“I’ve been a fan of every production of a Neil Simon play I’ve seen and wanted to bring his work to life myself, especially with a script so funny,” he said.
His character provides an important outside pressure as the increasingly frantic guests attempt to keep their stories straight.
“Welch adds a bit of outside tension, an external force not a part of the main group of characters, forcing them to all band together to cover each other’s butts,” Bunting-Syren said. And his personal takeaway from the production? “If you tell a good enough story to the cops, you can get away with more than you think.”
Macramalla, who plays Glenn Cooper, came to the production for a different reason: “Hunger. Sheer hunger for the artistic enterprise.”
After a difficult year, he said he needed something to remind him that life could still be joyful, and “Rumors” certainly provides that. Macramalla wasn’t familiar with the play before auditioning, but he quickly came to appreciate Simon’s precision.
“The script is the linguist version of a Bach fugue, so precise, with nothing out of place,” he said. “Getting a comedy right is one of the toughest and most satisfying things you can do as an actor. When the audience or your cast mates laugh, it’s gold.”
Allert sees something more beneath the chaos.
“I think friendship, loyalty and love are at the heart of the moral of this story,” he said. “In the end, love saves the day.”
Marsh sees it similarly: “Life and friendship are messy but beautiful.”
The plot moves quickly, with each new entrant to the stage bringing a lusty, comedic bent to the story. Just when it seems the characters couldn’t possibly make things more complicated, they do, and that may be precisely why this production is such a welcome invitation to forget everything else for a couple of hours.
As Marsh put it, “We’ve had people come up to us after a show and say, ‘I have never laughed so hard during a play’ or ‘I had a really hard week and now I feel lighter.’ I think we all need a play like this right now.”
If your mental health prescription calls for an evening of fast-paced confusion, outrageous excuses, uncontrollable laughter and a host of very talented actors, this dinner party is one you should RSVP for.
“Rumors,” presented by Mountain Community Theater, runs through Oct. 11 at Park Hall, 9400 Mill St. in Ben Lomond. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8pm with Sunday matinees at 2pm. This show is rated PG-13 due to adult themes and language. Tickets are available at mctshows.org/buy-tickets.
