Musical ‘Lucky Stiff’ Opens November 16 At Theater Barn

RIDGEFIELD — Ridgefield Theater Barn will open its second mainstage presentation of the 2007-08 season on Friday, November 16, with Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s delightfully zany musical, Lucky Stiff, being directed by Aurora Marin and produced by Craig David Rosen.

“Imagine the scale and irreverence of Little Shop of Horrors blended with the zaniness of the Marx Brothers, and throw in a few madcap production numbers about everything from dogs to death” wrote The Baltimore Sun. Based on the novel The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth, Lucky Stiff is an old-fashioned musical farce, complete with slamming doors, mistaken identities, six million bucks in diamonds and a corpse in a wheelchair.

The plot concerns a shy shoe salesman, Harry Witherspoon, who feels life is passing him by — until he receives the will of his millionaire Uncle Anthony, who he’s never met. It seems Anthony is dead and Harry is entitled to $6 million… under one condition: he must take Uncle Anthony’s corpse on a vacation to Monte Carlo.

If he fails, his inheritance will go to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn — and Harry hates dogs. On his wacky journey, he’s trailed by a cast of characters who will do anything to prove Anthony’s a stiff and get their hands on the money.

A talented and experienced cast for this production includes Ridgefield residents Cheryl Boyd, Rachel Corn, Jose Helu and Janice Rudolph; from Danbury, Matt Austin, Jody Bayer and Daniel Bayer; and Stephen DeRocco of Wilton, Joe Efferen of Carmel NY, Paulette Layton of New Fairfield and Stephen Yudelson of Newtown.

Working behind the scenes, an experienced crew is headed by Stage Manager Jeremy Quinn and Assistant Stage Manager Bobbie Herman. Set design is in the talented hands of Myles Gansfried and Joe Helu will be in charge of designing sound. In charge of properties is Katherine Barry, Barbara Norman is bringing her talents to the always important job of costumes.

Musical accompaniment will be provided by bassist Mark Campbell and drummer John Pokorny, while Aurora Marin takes the lead on keyboard.

Lucky Stiff will open Friday, November 16, at 8 pm. Performances will continue Friday and Saturday evenings through December 15 with Sunday matinees on November 25 and December 2 at 2 pm.

Tickets are $24 adults, $20 seniors (62) and students, and are available online at TheaterBarn.org.

The Ridgefield Theater Barn is at 37 Halpin Lane. Seating is cabaret style, and the audience is welcome to bring in food and beverage; doors open one hour before curtain.