Community theaters love Ken Ludwig. Since he first hit it big with his Tony-winning farce Lend Me A Tenor, Ludwig’s farcical takes on the world of Agatha Christie (Murder on the Orient Express), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Baskerville, a Sherlock Holmes Mystery), and even George and Ira Gershwin (Crazy for You) have been proven audience pleasers, though their quality varies. The Cloverdale Performing Arts Center joins the frey with its production of Ludwig’s Leading Ladies, now running through April 26.
To enjoy a Ludwig farce, one must fully engage one’s suspension of disbelief as miraculous coincidences, ridiculous impersonations and preposterous behaviors take center stage. Doubly so for this particular production.
Director Amanda Claiborne has reset the show from rural Pennsylvania in the late 1950s to present day Cloverdale, where two traveling British actors end up after a poorly received presentation of Scenes from Shakespeare at the Petaluma Kiwanis Club…