The Man Who Came to Dinner

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE
Presents the screwball, madcap classic THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman

WHEN: Nov. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 16, and 23 at 2 p.m.,
Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. and a special high school matinee Nov. 18 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: Russell Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham Campus
TICKETS: Students $7, Seniors/Faculty/Staff/Alumni $10, General public $14, Wednesday & high school matinees all tickets $5
BOX OFFICE: (207) 780-5151

The screwball belly laughs come fast and furious when irascible 1930s radio impresario Sheridan Whiteside, the Oprah Winfrey of his day, breaks a hip at the home of a quiet mid-western family, and proceeds to turn their lives inside out, orchestrating a series of sneaky shenanigans while recuperating in their living room. Axe-murders are invited to tea, penguins are harbored in the library, an octopus inhabits the cellar and 10,000 cockroaches take over the kitchen.

When Whiteside’s secretary Maggie (Megan Leddy of Freeport, ME) falls in love with reporter Bert Jefferson, (Michael Lynch of Westport, MA) who has arrived to interview Whiteside, (Travis Grant of Waldoboro, ME) he summons the glamorous actress Lorraine (Mary Casas of Washington, ME) to distract the young man. Maggie counters with the help of a clever impersonator pretending to be Lord Bottomly, whom Lorraine hopes to marry. When Lorraine gets wise to the ruse she tries to lure Bert away on a trip to Lake Placid to work on a play. Then an ancient mummy case arrives by mail and….

Sound complicated? It is! That’s what makes The Man Who Came to Dinner a crisscrossed comedy classic of the American Theatre. Despite its age and classic status, USM’s cast of nearly 30 student actors rips through the piece with broad, enthusiastic vigor, keeping the farcical comedy fresh and vital. The plot is stuffed with a nearly endless supply of outrageous comedic characters for young performers to luxuriate in, and squeeze for every laugh they’re worth.

Professor Thomas A. Power directs the venerable play and says he’s not worried about some of the 1930s allusions getting missed in the mayhem.

“Some of the references are obscure, but it’s a classic set-up,” he says from his office on the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine before going upstairs to run a rehearsal. “It’s still fun. The situation is timeless.”

Travis Grant of Waldoboro, left, stars as Sheridan Whiteside along with Megan Leddy of Freeport, center left, playing his secretary Maggie, Michael Lynch of Westport, MA as Burt the reporter and Mary Casas as the lovely Lorraine, sent to tear Maggie and Burt apart.


Travis Grant of Waldoboro, center front, stars as Sheridan Whiteside along with Megan Leddy of Freeport, left, playing his secretary Maggie, Michael Lynch of Westport, MA as Burt the reporter and Mary Casas as the lovely Lorraine, sent to tear Maggie and Burt apart.