Now the Kent Players are preparing to take theatergoers back to those days with "Radio Waves," a broad farce penned by Eric LaRocca, Sara Bouchard, Peter Pecora and Terry Tyrell, four members of the Kent Players, a nascent acting troupe. The play will be staged on the Marvelwood School stage on June 5 and 6 at 7 p.m. and June 7 at 3 p.m.
"We've been working hard," Ms Bouchard said this week, "and we think it will be funny. The cast doesn't stop laughing."
Indeed, cast members were enjoying themselves immensely during a rehearsal last week at the Congregational Church parish hall.
Ms. Bouchard said one goal for this first production is to involve as many members of the Players as possible in the production. But with 17 actors, scheduling rehearsals can be difficult. "We have two weeks to go and I hope everyone will be able to make it from now on," she said.
She said that many of the actors will be familiar faces. "We wanted people that [Kent residents] would recognize," she said. Actors in the order of their appearance are Mary Freimuth, Constance Vanzanten, Naomi Adler, Larry Stevens, Dick Lindsey, Andy Hicks, Terry Tyrell, Sheward Haggerty, Jack Murphy, Bobbie Davis, Jeannette Reilling, Terry Williams, Carol Hall, Rita Easton, Naomi Adler, Sam Everett, Esther Hatch, Linda Kaplan, Blythe Everett, Tiernan O'Rourke and Charlotte Lindsey.
The writers took an original 1940s radio show and rewrote it. In the first act, a philandering Hollywood leading man and his diva wife arrive at a tiny Litchfield County radio station where they are to make a guest appearance. There they meet a cast of char­acters that includes a child star and her stage mother, a doddering, soundman who keeps falling asleep, a star-struck would-be actress, a harried station manager and more. It is not long before everything begins to descend into chaos.
"When you watch 1940s co­m­edies, if there is a husband and wife team, there's always an argument. By the end of the play, they've made up, but in between it's mayhem. We soon learn that [the stars] Robert Fletcher and Veronica Sinclair aren't the only insane people in Litchfield County," Ms. Bouchard said. "For instance, we have Herbie the soundman-he's played by Jack Murphy, who is just adorable in it. He does sound effects like the 'thunder sheet' and ducks quacking, but he's deaf and he keeps falling asleep.
"We called it 'Radio Waves' because everyone starts to make waves," she continued. "We made up commercials and used music such as 'Putting on the Ritz' and 'Tara's Theme' from 'Gone with the Wind,' and played with Rick and Ilsa's scene from Casablanca. None of this is to be taken seriously-with these economic times, we didn't want anything too dark. We wanted to have fun."
The Kent Players formed last winter to bring theater back to Kent following the departure of the Kent Community Players to Sherman several years ago. Its departure left a whole in the fabric of Kent life and about 30 people came together to form the new group.
Ms. Bouchard said the group decided to start small, presenting one production a year. "We are just doing one weekend for now," she said, "although we may extend to two weekends in the future. This time we will have a Sunday matinee tea where people can ask questions, and on opening night we will have a cheese and wine reception where people can meet the cast."
She said curtain time will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday so people can get home before dark. "We hoped older citizens will feel able to come," she said. "This is not a long, drawn-out thing, although we don't know quite how long it will run. The other night when we were rehearsing we all stopped because a bear passed the thrift house. Even nature has disturbed us a little bit, but we just keep barreling on ahead. We're eager to get it up and see what people think."
Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.