The five actors and actresses who comprise the cast of "Mary, Mary," which will open Friday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre, have worked hard rehearsing over the last six weeks.
Still, given the nature of the play, they couldn't help but to have a little fun.
"I've enjoyed this show a lot and we wind up laughing through rehearsals," said Athens resident Lonny Fraze, director of the play.
Article Photos
Photo submitted by Lonny Fraze.
Kermit Polan, left, and Ray Ryan, right, rehearse for the Mid-Ohio Valley Players’ upcoming show, “Mary, Mary.” They are portraying Oscar Nelson and Dirk Winston, respectively.
"Mary, Mary" is a romantic comedy written by Jean Kerr that is set in 1961 in New York. It tells the story of Bob and Mary McKellaway, who are in the process of getting a divorce.
"Divorces were unheard of back then so (Mary) was the black sheep and her soon-to-be ex is getting married and she finds out right at the beginning of the play," said Marietta resident Karen Pratt, 41, who is portraying Mary. "What the whole play is about is do they want to get back together or does (Bob) want to be (with his new fiancee)."
She said her character, in particular, adds the comedic flavor to the play.
Fact Box
If you go
What: "Mary, Mary"
Where: Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre, 227 Putnam St., Marietta.
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. April 29-30, 8 p.m. May 6-7; 3 p.m. May 1.
Cost: $10 for adults, $8 for seniors/students, $5 for youth.
Tickets are available at midohiovalleyplayers.org and Marty's Print Shop, 307 Third St., Marietta.
"Her defense mechanism is making jokes...and it makes her soon-to-be ex-husband, Bob, really upset and he can't handle it," Pratt said.
The play is the eleventh Pratt has been part of with the MOVP. She said the challenge with this particular play was figuring out the references from the 1960s.
"The references and the people they talk about and the way they talk is nothing like today," she said. "There were names and lots of things I had to look up."
The only other actress in the play is Shiloh Morgenstern, who portrays Bob's fiancee, Tiffany Richards. Marty Durham plays Bob McKellaway, Ray Ryan is movie star Dirk Winston and Kermit Polan plays a tax attorney named Oscar Nelson. Pratt said she has worked with Durham and Ryan before.
"They're wonderful to work with," she said.
"Mary, Mary" is the fifth play Lonny Fraze has directed at the MOVP Theatre. The first play he directed there was Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite" in the early 1990s.
"About every four or five years I've done a show since then," he said. "It's a well established theater group and has veteran actors and people who know what they're doing."
