The Open Book Theatre Company presents the Peter Shaffer comedy, “Lettice and Lovage” May 8 to 31, with Kez Settle (left) as Lotte Schoen and Wendy Katz Hiller as Lettice Douffet, at the playhouse, 1621 West Road in Trenton. For more information, go to OpenBookTC.com.
Trenton’s Open Book Theatre Company closes it season with the Peter Shaffer comedy, “Lettice and Lovage” May 8 to 31, while the historic Howell Opera House’s second-floor stage hosts its first show in more than a century as actor, producer and filmmaker Sam Logan Khaleghi brings Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ to life.
OPEN BOOK THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS ‘LETTICE AND LOVAGE’
When a tour guide with a flair for the dramatic and a tendency to embellish history comes into conflict with an inspector who insists on professionalism, the stage is set for a fabulous feud in playwright Peter Shaffer’s “Lettice and Lovage.”
Director Krista Schafer said the show focuses of the relationship between tour guide Lettice Douffet and inspector Lotte Schoen, two seemingly different women who both have a need for connection.
“The play also explores the romanticizing of the brutality of the past as well as the destruction of beauty for efficiency,” she said. “Ultimately, it shows that we can take the best from seemingly different worlds and make something wonderful.”
Schafer said two community members will be featured in each show in the opening sequence as tourists visiting the historic house where Lettice is a tour guide.
The cast includes Wendy Katz Hiller as Lettice Douffet, Kez Settle as Lotte Schoen, Erin Hildebrandt as Miss Framer and Jonathan Jones as Mr. Bardolph.
Hiller said Lettice is a dream role that has been fun to explore.
“She is larger than life: dramatic and silly, but she also has a real heart and deep emotions,” she said. “It’s a joy to crawl inside this character each night, since she’s much freer than I am in my “real life,” and that’s a lot of fun to play with.”
Hiller said that while the show is silly and funny, it is touching as well, and she hopes the audience has fun getting to know the characters.
“Lettice and Lotte seem very different at first, but they are able to find a common humanity,” she said. “That is important in our current world, and having a chance to laugh is important now, too.”
Hiller said that despite “Lettice and Lovage” not being as well-known as Shaffer’s Tony Award-winning plays “Equus” and “Amadeus,” his use of language remains beautiful.
“What a pleasure to get to say his words,” she said.
Settle, who plays Lotte, said the show is human and relatable.
“It deals with those things we struggle with daily in terms of finding our relevance in a world that is rapidly changing, and not always for the better,” she said. “People will also enjoy the deeply human connection and the friendship that grows between these two polar opposite characters.”
Settle said she’s had fun collaborating with the talented cast and crew while bring the story to life.
“This show is very funny,” she said. “The cast brings such dimension to their characters, which is a joy to see and to get to play with on stage.”
Hildebrandt, who plays Miss Framer, said the show is a fantastic combination of wit, warmth and silliness, and she finds it fun to play a “normal” character for a change.
“Usually, I’m playing characters who are a bit wild and do something drastic during the show,” she said. “Here, I am playing a nervous secretary who is just trying her best to impress her boss, and sometimes she succeeds and sometimes she fails.”
The show runs at 8 p.m. May 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 and 30, with 2 p.m. May 10, 17, 24 and 31 and 3:30 p.m. May 23 and 30 matinees at the theater, 1621 West Road in Trenton.
Tickets are $40 for opening night with an afterglow, with other shows $35 for general admission, $30 for seniors and $20 for students. To order tickets, call 734-288-7753 or go to OpenBookTC.com.
Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance,” directed by filmmaker Sam Logan Khaleghi, is the first official show to be performed in more than a century at the historic Howell Opera House, with Ava Taube (left), Geoffrey Kelm, Genessa Claeys, Sarah Catherine Moore, Ron Blair, Sam Logan Khaleghi (seated), Cheyenne Johnson and Kolbe Pierzynowski.
HOWELL OPERA HOUSE COMES TO LIFE WITH ‘PIRATES OF PENZANCE’
Actor, producer and filmmaker Sam Logan Khaleghi, a Detroit native who earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, made his stage debut while bringing “The Pirates of Penzance” to the historical Howell Opera House, presenting the first show to be performed on its second-floor stage in more than a century.
The comic opera was presented by the How Well We Live Foundation in association with SLK Media Group and in cooperation with the Livingston Arts Council.
The sold-out run was performed April 24 and 25 and continues May 1 and 2 at the opera house, 123 W. Grand River in Howell.
Khaleghi makes both his opera and stage debut as the director and producer, and will appear in a cameo role as a Corsair.
“I am elated in having the honor of bringing this first show to a notable stage that deserves being experienced again by a real audience after 100 years,” he said. “‘The Pirates of Penzance’ is a project that I always aspired to do as a film, but to have the pleasure of directing it for the stage as first originally incepted just seems right, especially alongside the lovely Sarah Moore.”
Moore, a soprano, sings the role of the Pirate Queen, as opposed to the traditional Pirate King.
She recently sang with the chorus of “La Traviata” and “Cosi Fan Tutte” at the Detroit Opera House under artistic director Yuval Sharon, won a Telly Award for Best Use of Music on the feature film “Christmas on the North Pole Express,” and a Michigan Wilde Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role of Aldonza in “Man of La Mancha.”
Soprano Ava Taube, who plays Mabel, is excited to be part of the production.
“I never imagined The Howell Opera House would be hosting performances in this century, let alone being a part of one,” she said. “When I first stepped into the space for my audition, I was in complete awe of the acoustics.”
Others in the cast include Geoffrey Kelm as Major General Stanley, Garrett Manor as Frederic, Brian George as Samuel, Nicci Dreyer as Ruth and Kolbe Pierzynowski as the Sergeant of Police.
Genessa Claeys, Brad Rondeau and Ronald Blair perform as the sea rover squad, with Amanda Ruth, Cheyenne Johnson, Kasey Julian and Keionni Hicks as the refined daughters of the Major General.
The creative team includes Susan Harvey as music director, actress Sarah Catherine Moore as choreographer and Erv Suida as the executive producer for the How Well We Live Foundation.
Harvey said it has been both humbling and joyful to music direct “The Pirates of Penzance,” especially knowing that the production helps fundraise for the Howell Opera House.
“Working alongside the remarkable creativity of director Sam Logan Khaleghi and this rollicking cast to preserve this historic space has been a truly awe-inspiring experience,” she said.
Suida was also excited to be part of the production.
“This cast is extraordinary, and hearing them rehearse has been unbelievable,” he said. “To see this kind of talent fill the opera house again is something really special.”