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Backdoor Playhouse at Tennessee Tech presents “Leading Ladies”
From left: William Guynn and Quentin Powell
The Backdoor Playhouse at Tennessee Tech University will present the 33rd Annual Dorothy
Printz Pennebaker Memorial Spring 2023 production “Leading Ladies” by Ken Ludwig starting
April 13.
The story, a comedy set in the 50’s, focuses on two friends and actors, Jack and Leo.
They’ve found themselves down on their luck and desperately searching for a way to
make money. When they hear of an elderly woman who is about to die and leave her fortune
to her two long-lost English nephews, they know what they have to do.
They will disguise themselves as these nephews and claim the money for themselves.
However, when they arrive, they find that the woman’s long-lost relatives are not
nephews – they are nieces. They’ll have to adjust their plan accordingly if they still
hope to steal the inheritance.
“Working on a comedy has been exactly the perfect thing for all of us,” said Mark
Creter, artistic director for the Backdoor Playhouse and director of the spring production.
“All of us go into rehearsal, and by the time we leave, we've been laughing for two
or three hours.”
Creter stumbled onto the play in a used bookstore last summer, and he immediately
knew he wanted to do the show when he found himself laughing out loud as he read the
script.
“Comedy is often considered such an easy thing to do,” he said. “People think heavy
tragedies are difficult, and they are – but so is comedy. It's all about timing.
It's all about pacing. Rehearsals for this show have become kind of a master class
in comedic timing for the students.”
The all- Tech student cast includes Maddie Maas, William Guynn, Quentin Powell, Kennady
Campbell, Caleb Grider, Rhea Geer, Aaron Ramsey and Max Johnson.
Students also worked with Bob Cardana, production manager at Tech, to create the set
which not only had to appear like the lavish living room of a wealthy Pennsylvania
woman in the 1950s, but also had to incorporate a number of doors and other exits
for the actors to use in the fast-paced comedy.
“The students are learning how to build sets, how to build flats, how to put in window
flats, how to paint a wall to give the illusion of wallpaper – they’ve done an amazing
job,” Creter said.
The production is funded by the Dorothy Printz Pennebaker Memorial Endowment. Pennebaker
founded the Tech Players on campus in 1953. Her daughter, Martha Osborn set up an
endowment to regularly support the Tech Players’ spring production.
Showings of “Leading Ladies” will be held at the Backdoor Playhouse in Tech’s Jere
Whitson Building at 8 p.m. April 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21 and 22, with a late show at
10 p.m. on April 20, and a matinee at 2 p.m. on April 22. Tickets are $15 general
admission, $12 senior citizens and $5 for all students. Tickets are available on a
first-come, first-served basis at the box office on the night of the performance.
