This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Love, Sex and The I.R.S.

Come in from the cold and be prepared to laugh!

 Escape from preparing your income taxes, or come to laugh for no reason at all!

                 “Escape from preparing your income taxes--or come to laugh for no reason at all!,” says Patrick Kiley, producer of the Town Players’ winter show, Billy VanZandt and Jane Milmore’s riotous comedy Love, Sex and the I.R.S.  The play is fueled by the hilarious and ridiculous complications that arise from a scheme to pay lower taxes. Performances will take place at the Powerhouse Theatre, Waveny Park, New Canaan on February 25, 26 and March 4, 5, 11 & 12 at 8 pm with Sunday matinees on February 27 and March 6th at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.  To reserve seats, call (203) 966-7371 or go to info@tpnc.org.

Find out what's happening in New Canaanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

      A rollicking farce, Love, Sex and the I.R.S. is filled with very funny dialogue, fast paced, comic action and sight gags. Jon Trachtman and Leslie Arthur are out of work musicians who room together in New York City. To save money, Jon has been filing tax returns listing them as married, taking advantage of the spelling of Leslie’s name to make him appear as a her. The day of reckoning comes when I.R.S. agent Floyd Spinner arrives at the door to investigate the "couple." Leslie masquerades as a housewife, aided by Jon's fiancée, Kate. Complicating matters Leslie and Kate have fallen in love behind Jon's back, Jon's mother flies in unexpectedly to meet her son's fiancée, and Leslie's slighted girlfriend shows up demanding to know why Leslie has changed and won't see her anymore.  In a light hearted dénouement, all ends well!

     “It’s fun,” says director Chris Peterson of Hamden, “to poke fun at the I.R.S. and the system’. Love, Sex and the I.R.S. is a lively show, keeps moving and I’ve never felt happier about a cast.” Appearing as I.R.S agent Floyd Spinner will be Bob Filipowich of Fairfield, who, as Buddy, performed the show stopping solo “The Right Girl” in Follies and dropped red herrings galore as the jealous man about town Bobby in Postmortem. Bob and playwright VanZandt both loved watching “I Love Lucy” throughout their childhoods, and the TV show, they each believe, nourished their comic sensibilities.  Also an aficionado of “The Carol Burnett Show” and “My Little Margie,” Bob is trying to tap into those resources to bring out the humanity and comedy of Spinner, who “obviously is not having fun at home and is not a well liked person because an I.R.S. agent is a natural enemy of the people.  Thanks to a little bit of alcohol and being part of the musicians’ antics, he releases bottled up aggressions.” Fredda Takacs of Trumbull never knew she had comic timing until she played Matron Queenie Malone in Broadway Melody Hours at Johnny Ray’s Dinner Theatre in Milford. Audiences laughed uproariously and Fredda discovered, “It’s so wonderful to see people enjoy themselves!”  She is realizing how much energy Vivian (Jon’s mother) brings to the play as she creates hysterics and makes things so much worse. 

Find out what's happening in New Canaanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

     Townsend Ambrecht of New Canaan and NYC and Ryan Hendrickson of Stamford will appear as roommates Jon and Leslie. Townsend is studying acting at the Terry Schreiber Studio in Chelsea, loves the play’s physicality and energy, and is gaining appreciation of the many levels of characterization comedy performance requires.  Ryan majored in math and physics at MIT and has performed with a handful of community theatres over the past two years.  He ruminates, “I don’t think of myself as someone who has comic timing.  Comic timing is so subtle, dealing with patterns, the expected and the unexpected, absurdity, and so many subtle things if the audience is open to it.” Timing is something he works on.  “Exploring more ways and opportunities can be hit or miss, trying things that are funny.” He loves the comic role of Leslie, saying, “It’s the same guy, whether a man or woman.  I just keep the rhythm, and go with the energy and the laughter.”  

     Leslie’s erstwhile girlfriend Connie “definitely gets to make a flash. She comes in Act III like a battering ram, with machine gun dialogue and is fun to do,” says Rochelle Woodson of Derby, seen on the Powerhouse stage as Prince Valiant in Snow White and in November’s Stage II.

     A busy actor, writer, designer and director, Kevin McNair of Stratford believes that theatre does three things for an actor and a member of the audience:  teaches a lesson; bewitches one into believing he or she is in the world the play is in; and transforms so that whether on stage or watching, one experiences personal growth and development. Of Mr. Jansen, the beer-bellied drunk of a landlord, whom he plays, Kevin says, “His absurdity is lovely. He is the idealization of a person who doesn’t give a damn about anything.”  On the other hand, Kevin cares deeply about many contemporary issues, see his blog TrueActing on YouTube.  Michael Hodges of New Canaan has studied acting and directing both at Norwalk Community College and Franciscan University.  He will play Arnold Grunion, a shady justice of the peace, picked up on the subway by Vivian.  Michael first discovered that “comedy is so much fun” when he appeared as Hamlet in a slapstick show entitled The Shakespeare Project.

“Farce,” Marta Coppola of Stamford believes, “sharpens skills.  You have to remain present in the moment.”  The challenge of comedy, she finds “is how to balance depth and lightness,” and as Kate, it’s something she has to attempt as she tries to stay in control managing two guys, her boyfriend and his roommate, while all she wants to do is go crazy.  Marta’s answer: “Keep it loose and tight.”  She loves the pace of Love, Sex and the I.R.S., but more its accessibility, remarking, “You don’t have to be a student of farce. Anyone who walks through the Powerhouse door will laugh at this show.” 

 

 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?