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Jessica Randall, Hannah Conner, Ryan Hake, Bridget McCloskey, Emily Stys, Patrick Cymbalski, Louis Vallone and Hannah Korell will star in the Romeo Theatre Companyıs production of ³The Man Who Came to Dinner.²
Source photo by Matt December
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Ever wonder what it would be like to have a stranger living in your home for six weeks after breaking their hip on your front stoop?
“The Man Who Came to Dinner” will give attendees a view into what insanity could ensue.
The show is being presented by the Romeo Theatre Company and features performances by more than 15 students, as well as the talents of dozens of students involved behind the scenes.
“The Man Who Came to Dinner” is a 3-act comedy set in the 1930s that revolves around Sheridan Whiteside, a radio personality from New York, and the consequences of an accident he suffers will visiting a small town in Ohio.
“The show is about a celebrity of the 1930s radio scene going to a small town much like Romeo, in Ohio,” said Alana Stultz, assistant director on the show. “He goes and has dinner with one of the higher-ups in that town. While he is there, he falls on their front stoop and breaks his hip, so he is confined to their house, in that small town, for six weeks.”
During that time, a series of comedic events lead the characters to re-examine their lives and priorities.
“Our two shows last year were The Outsiders’ and Into the Woods,’ and they were more drama than comedy,” said Stultz, adding that this year they wanted to do something a little less serious. “We have a perfect group of people. It was just the right time.”
Kendra Walls, RHS drama teacher and director of “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” said this show will be a good contrast to their previous shows and the show they are performing in the spring.
“It is intelligent humor,” she said. “We are doing High School Musical’ in the spring. That is teenagers playing teenagers.
“I was looking for a more intelligent comedy. This show has so many quirky, wonderful characters. It is one of those shows where they have got to be on top of things,” Walls continued. “I like it because at every rehearsal we find new moments that are fun.”
Senior Ryan Hake takes the lead as Sheridan Whiteside.
“This character is really fun because all he does is basically make fun of everyone in the meanest way possible,” he said. “It is difficult because you want to do that but you want the audience to fall in love with you.”
Hake, who has been in approximately 20 productions during the last several years, including “Into the Woods” last year, said this play offers him a new experience.
“I have never been in a show where I am basically on stage the whole time,” he said. “Even if I’m not saying anything, I’m just sitting there, and so you have to find something to do and it is definitely a challenge in that respect.”
Emily Stys, also a senior at RHS, plays Maggie Cutler, Whiteside’s assistant. Stys said she has enjoyed working on the show, admires the cast greatly and has enjoyed her part.
“She is used to Whiteside’s humor,” she said. “She is in her mid-30s and as soon as she finds Bert (the local newspaper editor), she falls in love with him. It is a riot. The cast is incredible. I don’t think I have worked with another cast so perfectly done.”
“It is a very well-written show,” Hake said. “It is a really funny show. There is a lot of stuff going on at one time so you really have to pay attention to every little gag.”
Hake continued to say he really enjoys the cast he is working with and said the senior students mesh well with the younger students.
“It is just fun. We have been working together for 3 or 4 years now and now there are newer kids coming in, which is really cool to see,” he said. “The cast is great.”
The show is slated for Nov. 21-22 at 8 p.m., and Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. The show will have two 10-minute intermissions.
Tickets cost $7 and are for general admission.
For more information about the show or purchasing tickets, call 281-1154.
