Farce to be reckoned with

Does middlebrow farce make for recession-proof theater? Editing this week's listings, I was surprised to realize I had two plays by Ken Ludwig ("farceur laureate of middle America," to quote myself) right next to each other. Geographically, Leading Ladies and Lend Me a Tenor are about as far away from each other as could be—at Munster's Theatre at the Center and Arlington Heights's Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, respectively. Spiritually, though, they're as close as they are in the alphabet, full of mistaken identities, slamming doors and double entendres. (Theatre at the Center is even following up in May with Crazy for You, the Gershwin jukebox musical with a book by Ludwig.)

The farce isn't limited to the ’burbs, either: the commercial run of Don't Dress for Dinner, the comedy of bad manners by French playwright Marc Camoletti, is a rare hit for the Royal George's mainstage, running strong since November. I checked out the show recently, and found a decent crowd even on a very snowy Wednesday night. It's doing well enough, in fact, to benefit the personal economies of a few Chicago actors. Producers announced yesterday that the show would be extending yet again, with Gene Weygandt (Wicked, Northlight's The Miser), Bethany Caputo (Court's Arcadia) and Katherine Keberlein (a BackStage ensemble member most recently seen there in How I Learned to Drive) taking over for departing New York-based cast members Mark Harelik, Spencer Kayden and Jamie Morgan. The newbies join Darren Pettie, Brendan Averett and erstwhile Sister Patricia Kalember starting March 25.