Run For Your Wife

WRITTEN BY: Ray Cooney
PERFORMED AT: Clemens Center, Elmira
PERFORMED ON: January 20-21 (8pm), 22 (2pm), and 26-28th (8pm)
DIRECTOR: Martin King
SPONSORED BY: Elmira Little Theater
CAST:
* MARY SMITH- Libby Bloodgood
* BARBARA SMITH- Amy Lange
* JOHN SMITH- Bill Cavalier
* SGT TROUGHTON- Mike Carson
* STANLEY GARDENER- David A. Scott
* REPORTER- David Hall
* PORTERHOUSE- Bill Young
* BOBBY- Ottavio Campanella

PLOT: A taxi-driving bigamist (Bill Cavalier) tries to keep his two wives (Libby Bloodgood, Amy Lange) from finding out about each other. A farcical British comedy.

HISTORY: While still doing "Murder Sells" performances and "Holy Moses"/"Song of Glory" rehearsals, I auditioned for what would be the first ELT show of 2006. Prior experience with British plays and accents came in handy, and I was cast as John's hapless friend, Stanley.
Though rehearsals and performances all happened in Elmira, most of the cast and crew lived 20 or so minutes away, in Corning. This led to plenty of carpooling, which gave way to plenty of drivetime line readings and amusing conversations between me and the co-stars.
Although there were two months of rehearsals, involvement in two other plays in December left me with only January to truly study my lines. I even went so far as to record a CDR of myself reading the entire show, to aid in remembering my lines (I also made a copy for Bill Cavalier). In fact, the show was so packed with lines and movement, that it wasn't until opening night, and the addition of an audience, when we realized that we could all pull it off.
Yet we did, with several people coming to see the show a second time! Four of the six shows were sold out, and the January 26 audience spontaneously applauded partway through each of the two acts. By the end of each performance, I found myself dripping with sweat, but basking in the nonstop laughter and thunderous applause, rewarding a talented cast for a job well done.
Not only do I think that everyone put forth a terrific comedic performance, but I also dare to consider "Wife" one of my best performances of all time, if only because it's possibly the hardest I've worked to pull off a role, and the most positive response I've gotten for such an effort.
The show received terrific preshow publicity from the Elmira Star-Gazette newspaper, which printed two show-related articles (one in Life, one in Arts, each with a photo) in its January 19 issue.

PHOTOS:
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