Front row (left to right): Mark Wenz, Ginger Henry, Kate King-Turner, Cari Scholers; back row: Joyce Recupido and Jim Janowski
Just days before the first rehearsal, the show’s director, Jo Berlin, underwent emergency major surgery. Two weeks into rehearsals, one of the original cast members had to drop out due to health challenges, and a replacement was quickly found. Another cast member joined the show only two weeks before the opening—but fortunately was a quick study and was able to commit the lines to memory in short order. Two days before the show opened, multiple doors and hallways were finally in place on the stage. But, hey, that’s what we love about community theatre! Never a dull moment, and a sense of accomplishment when the lights finally go up, the music begins, and the audience is drawn into the comedic free-for-all that was Sex Please, We’re Sixty.
The show featured two new-to-SLCT actors, Cari Scholes as Hillary Hudson, the retired scientist who previously worked with Henry Mitchell, and Mark Wenz as the incorrigible flirt and sex-obsessed Bud Davis. Both did great jobs of portraying their characters and were adorable in one of the final scenes when they ended up together. Veterans Joyce Recupido, Ginger Henry, and Jim Janowski all gave solid and funny performances as Mrs. Stancliffe, the time-conscientious proprietress; Victoria Ambrose, the lonely romance novel author; and Henry, the retired scientist responsible for all the shenanigans having to do with his invention, Venusia—the Viagra for menopausal women. Rounding out the cast was Kate King-Turner as the grannie-quoting southern belle Charmaine Beauregard, a hilarious part that she nailed with a spot-on southern accent.
Audiences responded well to all the characters and enjoyed the mayhem caused by the three women exacting revenge on Bud for his lothario ways. Bud and Henry exhibiting menopausal symptoms brought down the house, as did Charmaine’s unrelenting seduction of both Bud and Henry. Mrs. Stancliffe’s transformation in the final scene never ceased to draw oohs and ahhs from the appreciative crowd. All and all, by any measure, the show was a great success for Sun Lakes Community Theatre.
Next up will be Sam Club, Private Eye, and the Case of the Malted Falcon, a not-to-be-missed dinner murder-mystery production coming up March 15-19, 2023, in the Oakwood ballroom.