‘Leading Ladies’ at Salem

Staff report

SALEM

“Leading Ladies” will open Friday at Salem Community Theater and run for two consecutive weekends.

The comedy follows two down-on-their-luck Shakespearean actors – Leo (Matt Schomer of Salem) and Jack (Jacob Nash of Canfield) – who are desperate enough to accept performance jobs at the local Moose Lodge. When they happen upon information of an elderly woman in York, Pa., who is near death (Florence, played by Ruth Newman), they decide to pose as her two long-lost nephews to get a share of the woman’s estate.

They discover that the woman is actually searching for nieces, not nephews, and some obvious changes have to be made to continue their scheme. Things get more complicated when Leo falls for Florence’s actual niece, Meg (Tara Lee Holl) and Florence isn’t exactly as close to the end as they had anticipated.

Directed by Sam Luptak Jr., the cast also includes Malinda Denman, Ron Altomare, Bill Finley, Jack Kuczek and Terry Vest.

The play was written by Ken Ludwig, who also penned the Tony award-winning “Lend Me A Tenor” and “Moon Over Buffalo.” SCT produced another Ludwig farce, “The Fox On the Fairway,” in 2014.

“Leading Ladies” will mark the first show that Valley theater veteran Sam Luptak Jr. is directing at Salem.

Performances of “Leading Ladies” will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and again March 4 and 5; and 2 p.m. Sunday and March 6. The theater is at 490 E. State St., downtown. For reservations, call 330-332-9688.