The cast includes Jane Connell, Erin Dilly, Mark Jacoby, Lacey Kohl, Dan Lauria and Tim McGeever. Barrett (Annie Get Your Gun, Chicago) is Leo, Duva is Jack, Leo's partner in crime. The staging, directed by the author, is a co-production by Cleveland Play House and Houston's Alley Theatre. The Ohio run plays to Oct. 3.
Ludwig is known for Lend Me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo, the recently revised Twentieth Century and the libretto to Crazy for You.
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Here's how Cleveland Play House bills the play, which was workshopped last season at the Ohio resident theatre: "Take two down-on-their-luck Shakespearean actors reduced to performing in the Amish countryside of Pennsylvania and add a wealthy old woman searching for her two long-lost heirs. Then, mix in the beautiful niece who longs to be in the theatre and you have a rollicking new comedy of mistaken identities in the tradition of 'Some Like It Hot.'"
Jane Connell has worked with Ludwig before, in the original Broadway casts of Tom Sawyer, Crazy for You and Lend Me a Tenor. She recently appeared in the Broadway and national touring productions of The Full Monty. Designers are Judith Dolan (costume), Neil Patel (set), David Weiner (lighting), John Gromada (sound).
Opening night is Sept. 10. For information, call (216) 795 7000, ext. 4, or visit www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
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The production will play the Alley Theatre in Houston Oct. 15-Nov. 7.