“Leading Ladies”: Montana Rep tours state with rollicking comedy

Published: January 25, 2010

Montana Repertory Theatre tours the state in February with Ken Ludwig’s madcap romp, “Leading Ladies.” The comedy follows the adventures of Jack and Leo, two Shakespearean actors who find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing “Scenes from Shakespeare” on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania.

When they hear that an old lady in York, Penn., is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long-lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash.

The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren't nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, as well as slapstick goofiness, scrambled Shakespeare and good-natured laughs as the thespians hatch their hair-brained swindle.

Barret O’Brien, an actor and playwright who appeared in the 2006 Montana Rep production of “The Trip to Bountiful,” stars as Jack, and Bret Tuomi, a UM graduate who has appeared in six previous Montana Rep touring productions, plays Leo. Kathy Danzer, also a veteran of past productions, portrays Florence. Greg Johnson directs the play, which he describes as a “big, rollicking comedy.”

Catch "Leading Ladies" in the following towns:

Missoula: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, through Feb. 6 (no show Feb. 5), with a 2 p.m. matinee Jan. 30 at UM Montana Theatre in the PARTV Center (243-4581 or www.umtheatredance.org)

Helena: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Myrna Loy Center (443-0287 or www.myrnaloycenter.com)

Plains: 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at the high school gym (826-3150)

Lewistown: 7 p.m. Feb. 10 at Fergus Center for the Performing Arts (538-2410)

Great Falls: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Mansfield Theater (455-8514)

Butte: 8 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Mother Lode Theatre (723-3602)

Billings: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Alberta Bair Theater (256-6052 or www.albertabairtheater.org)