If you’re looking for entertainment just for its own sake, have we got a play for you: North Georgia Community Players is bringing the uproarious comedy Four Old Broads: The Miss Magnolia Senior Citizens Beauty Pageant to Dillard, and you can be sure there is no “elevated” purpose–it is nothing but a “laff riot” from beginning to end.
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve seen these four “old broads” before; two previous shows highlighted their shenanigans over the last couple of NGCP seasons.
Let director Foy Tootle, who has now steered the group through its adventures twice before, tell it: “This brings to fruition an insane trilogy that has made hundreds of folks from Rabun and its environs belly laugh out loud for almost two hours at a stretch.” This time, the action takes place at the senior living facility where the title characters live, and much of it is on the stage-within-the-stage where the beauty pageant plays out.
Tootle, who also directs more serious fare—the comedy/drama Steel Magnolias (no relation) is later in the season–is thrilled to return to this outright farce. “I like it because we know how we’re doing by the audience response and the laughter that spontaneously rings out—even during rehearsal. It is silly and we all need some silliness in our lives from time to time.”
The plot summary might give you a sense of the craziness: “Against her better judgement, Lurleen Dupree is throwing the seventh annual Miss Magnolia Senior Citizen Beauty Pageant. Martha Parcell is certain that it is finally her year to win. But Beatrice, Imogene Eaddy, and Maude have other plans. Throw in a tambourine-playing squirrel, dueling Elvises, and an unfortunate spray-tanning incident… and you’re in for a knee-slapping, side-splitting night of live theater.”
Suffice it to say that anything that can go wrong does go wrong. Really, really wrong. The audience will find the results hilarious, Tootle predicts, and a recent visit to a madcap rehearsal proved the point, notably when the squirrel, affixed to an actress’s face, made its appearance during the beauty pageant.
Lynda Hester plays Eaddy, one of the contestants, and reported that she’s having a ball at rehearsal.
“The play itself is ribald, risqué and guaranteed to create belly laughs,” Hester says. “It is definitely written to entertain folks of a ‘certain age’…
“Our director marches to the beat of a different drummer—but it’s a rhythm we can all dance to. As a newcomer to the stage, I’ve found him patient and encouraging, and the seasoned cast has been wonderful at helping me find my way when I get lost. The laughter, the costumes, the props, remind me that theater magic takes a whole village, not just the folks memorizing lines.
“I never imagined the biggest worry in community theatre would be who had to order the blow-up doll [yes, that kind of blow-up doll] for a prop! Foy finally did it himself — though he wasn’t thrilled when we suggested he might need to order a spare in case of a leak. He was worried about what his mail carrier was going to think!! That’s the kind of fun, unpredictable spirit that makes this play so delightful to be part of.”
Charles Lipthrott plays one of those dueling Elvises mentioned above. A former board member of the theater company, Lipthrott, a septuagenarian, says he comes out for a show whenever a gentleman of advanced years is needed; his last outing was as the patriarch, Jacob, in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat last year.
Lipthrott has a focal moment with the other Elvis, imitating “The King” in a brief act, and looking not entirely sure of himself (that’s the character, not the seasoned actor). Asked if he liked Elvis in his youth or since, Lipthrott said he listened to him, but he was a country music lover, not an Elvis fan. Well, he’s one now.
The rest of the cast is made up mostly of familiar faces to regular North Georgia theatergoers: Julie Best notably played Sylvia (the dog) in the comedy of the same name two years ago, and played Millicent in Sin, Sex and the C.I.A. last year.
Julie Harris, who has a professional resume, has been seen at many area theaters, most recently in Moon Over Buffalo last year. Sara Jones makes regular appearances in Dillard, including leading roles in Little Shop of Horrors and Nine to Five.
Joy Ruhe was on the Dillard show just a few weeks ago, as the Mother Superior in The Sound of Music. David Spivey, the other Elvis, was the male foil in both previous Four Old Broad shows, and played Greg in Sylvia.
Chelle Wright was in Bye Bye Birdie and previously played the lead in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Four Old Broads runs October 10-12th and 17-19th; Friday and Saturday shows are at 7, and the Sundays are 3 p.m. matinees.
Tickets are available on line at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/northgeorgiacommunityplayers/1496312 or by phone at 706-212-2500.
