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Mitch Traphagen photos
Macy (Judy Maser) and Anne (Melva Potvin) share a laugh during a scene from Ladies in Waiting at the Palace Theatre in Sun City Center.
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
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It has been said that people in Sun City Center don’t buy green bananas. Apparently, if the production Ladies in Waiting at the Palace Theatre has it correct, they don’t let a good funeral pass by unnoticed either.
Ladies in Waiting is the 117th play written by Andy Oosthuizen. It is an often humorous, sometimes exaggerated, look at the lives of women in a retirement community. Contrary to conventional wisdom (from those outside of retirement communities), there is no mention of shuffleboard or bridge anywhere in the nearly two hour play. There is, perhaps, more realism than the grandchildren might prefer; including a good bit of wine, a couple of glasses of Jack Daniels, along with an occasional sexual innuendo. After all, just because people are retired doesn’t mean they are dead.
Judy Michael plays the lead as Judy, one of the Ladies in Waiting. She has a date with a man to attend his late wife’s funeral and that sets the stage for the comical and irreverent, yet honest, production that follows. Judy is the center of the world for her handful of friends. At one point, Judy temporarily goes missing, prompting a friend to say, “Quick! Call the cemetery!” To which another responds, “You call a hospital before you call a cemetery!”.
Because the all-local cast are playing roles they see around them within the community, there is a realism to their performance that only adds to the humor. As in real life, casseroles play a role; with the same tinfoil-covered containers moving from one funeral to the next.
Judy (Judy Michael) makes a date while friends Dina (Diane Turcotte) and Marsha (Helen Moore) go about their lives.
Helen Moore plays Marsha, the elder statesman of the group. She is clearly comfortable with her life and, without apology, is never seen without a glass or bottle of wine in her hands. Moore’s performance frequently steals the show and may well create a new trend in Sun City Center: drinking wine through a straw from a bottle concealed by a pedestrian wicker cover.
Soon the wine begins a shift to occasional shots of bourbon. Judy introspectively comments that, “We run from shoe stores to banks hoping to get lucky. And me, I scan the obituaries. We are a group of ladies in waiting, but I don’t know what we are waiting for.”
Like everyone, they are waiting for happiness, of course. But they realize they need to go out into the world to find it.
Ladies in Waiting stars Judy Michael as Judy, Melva Potvin as Anne, Helen Moore as Marsha, Diane Turcotte as Dina, Uta Kuhn as Doris, Judy Maser as Macy and Ryan Bennett as Angus.
It may not be Broadway but that isn’t the intent of either the production or the playwright. Go to have fun and to enjoy some fine, area actors having a little fun at life’s expense in the theater’s intimate setting. Open yourself up for laughter and arrive early enough to enjoy an excellent and reasonably-priced meal before the show. It is time well spent.
Judy Michael plays the lead in ‘Ladies in Waiting’.
Ladies in Waiting will run through September 26 at the Palace Theatre, 3858 Sun City Center Blvd. For tickets and information call 813-938-5886.
Ladies in Waiting • Palace Theatre • Tickets: $9
Show dates and times:
September 18, 7 p.m.
September 19, 2 p.m.
September 24, 7 p.m.
September 25, 7 p.m.
September 26, 2 p.m.
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