After months of practice and rehearsal, the curtains will swing open for Stonington High School’s spring theater production, A Tough Act To Follow on Friday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m. with additional performances on Saturday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 4, at 2 p.m.
Set in New York City in the 1950s, Pat Hill’s A Tough Act To Follow tells the story of Leo Mintz, a once big-time Broadway agent, who has fallen on hard times and has resorted to representing B-rate acts, including teenage roller-skating poets, bird shows, and flea circuses. Life seems pitiful and mundane for Mintz until well-known gangster Louie DeMarco enters the scene and “convinces” Mintz to represent his protégé, a pretty starlet named Christine. Before long, self-serving columnists, wisecracking newspaper girls, and bumbling New York police are all intertwined as Mintz tries to make it back to the top in this boisterous comedy.
Long-time Stonington High School director Linda Allen will take the reins with senior Pat Kelley starring as the tricky but amiable agent, Leo Mintz. Liz, Mintz’s sarcastic secretary, is played by senior Hannah Stewart, and senior Bridget Saluk portrays Bebe, the office gopher. The mild-mannered but intimidating Louie DeMarco is played by Jeremy Christian, a senior; junior Amanda Calobrisi is Christine, the beautiful yet humble starlet.
Stonington High Drama liaison Chris Pierson said all the students involved in the play have been working hard since the beginning of March. The comedy is sure to elicit plenty of laughs, he noted.
Performances of A Tough Act To Follow at Stonington High School’s newly refurbished auditorium are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 4. All tickets are $8. Tickets may be purchased at Stonington High School or at the door.