RSVP presents 'Four Old Broads'

Philip Shore

For Randolph Hub 

ASHEBORO — Baby, it’s cold outside! What we need is some warm, solid mirth and maybe a little raucous laughter…

RSVP Community Theatre is preparing some of both for us with its latest production — “Four Old Broads” — to be performed at Asheboro’s Sunset Theatre on Feb. 28- March 2 and March 7-9.

This show is what you might call broad comedy. It takes a risible jaunt into a realm that, if we are lucky, comes to us all. The nice word is “maturity.” The scientific phraseology is “senioritis.”

There is much humor to be mined there, because that’s where all the experience is. “Four Old Broads” is a relatively new play that debuted in 2015. It has been tearing around the US, leaving a swath of good comedic acting at the community level and a trail of laughter for audiences.

Author Leslie Kimbell has a firecracker on her hands. One reviewer said, “Ms. Kimbell is a much-needed new voice in theatre, writing these ‘old broads’ with authenticity, pathos and humor. Audiences eat them up.”

The setting is the Magnolia Place Assisted Living. The inmates are chafing under the harsh reign of Nurse Pat Jones and her romance-reading nurse, Ruby Sue Bennett. Eaddy Mae Clayton, Imogene Fletcher and Maude Jenkins, under the influence of ringleader Beatrice Shelton, try to solve why the atmosphere at Magnolia Place has changed so drastically. 

Oh, and better chunk in Sam Smith, a retired Elvis impersonator and self-styled Casanova. This mix of personalities is highly explosive, particularly when you factor in the superiority, the high level, the exceeding competence of our local cast.

Inhabiting this realm are the Four. (As to the other adjectives in the title, they are not excessively old and they are all rather refined in their daily lives, but willing to put that aside in order to bring out the fun and give it to you, the audience.) The Four are Teresa Thomas as Beatrice; Laurine Varner as Maude; Carol Plew as Eaddy Mae; and Sharon Cagle as Imogene.

Possibly the most familiar of this crew are Teresa Thomas and Laurine Varner. Teresa (Beatrice) hails from Robbins. She has regaled us previously in “The Service At Rocky Bluff,” “Kitchen Witches,” “Southern Hospitality” and in directing “Steel Magnolias.” Her character is disgusted with a boring life of Bingo and canasta at the assisted living home. Warning: Beatrice has no filter! Teresa’s own spirit can be summed up by a line from her Facebook page: “Dance before the music is over. Live before your life is over.” Teresa is living to the max right now!

Laurine’s character, Maude, on another hand, is between keeping up with her favorite soap opera and planning her funeral. Laurine is a hometown girl with envious credentials in area theatre that range from Queen Agravaine in “Once Upon a Mattress” … to Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeney Todd” … to one fourth of a WWII Andrews Sisters quartet with the Touring Theatre of North Carolina … with a side trip to Neverland as Himself in “Peter Pan” … and here she is home again. She hopes audiences will get the message from this show of how a little encouragement can change someone’s life.

With those ladies are Carol Plew (Eaddy Mae) and Sharon Cagle (Imogene). 

Carol’s home base is Burlington and she covers the waterfront besides: Acting, directing, stage managing, tech in regional theatre …  plus she pulled a stint in children’s theatre in Asheboro through Randolph Arts Guild Ragbag Players a few years ago. Favorite roles are Ouiser in “Steel Magnolias,” Sister Mary Lazarus in “Nunsense” and Mazeppa in “Gypsy.” But looky here: “RENT,” “Footloose,” “Noises Off!” are a few of the 90+ shows she has directed. She says she’s happy to be here with us.

Sharon’s Imogene is sweet and a bit naive. Memory issues. Thanks to Beatrice, she comes out of her shell. This is her first experience with RSVP and she feels at home. She started participating in community theatre while dealing with a personal rough patch in her twenties and she hasn’t looked back. “West Side Story” is her favorite show with the role of “American Girl.” What she sees in this play is that life is not over just because of advancing age.

The villain of the piece is JeriLynn Roblee, who portrays nasty-nasty Administrator Pat Jones in this, her third, RSVP show. She is a happy transplant from New York state where she began in community theatre. Locally, she has acted in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “Play On!” Her day-to-day work involves taking care of her beloved residents as a CNA at a local Randolph County nursing facility.

Lauren Wood plays Ruby Sue Bennett, a romance-struck nurse at the facility. Always book in hand, Lauren is a secondary science educator in the Randolph County School System. She has appeared in RSVP productions of “Clue,” “You Make My Frame Shake!” and “The Music Man.” Laughter, she says, is such a great way to connect. It makes you leave the theatre a little lighter and brighter. Not to discourage deeper conversation of thought-provoking moments, but just enjoy!

Let’s let a man in here. Buddy Mitchell plays Sam the Elvis imitator and Magnolia Place’s resident Casanova. This is Buddy’s first turn with RSVP. Antiques, old cars and hot rods are among his life loves. And he likes to make people laugh. Well, he came to the right place!

Alisa Smith McNeill directs. Her sure hand has been prominent in, on and around many RSVP shows. She picked this one and was extremely tickled by it. Asked to comment about the production, she offered this: “It’s been a pleasure to direct this amazing cast. They have brought these characters to life and we can recognize them in our lives as well. We present laughs, hijinks and demonstrate the bonds of 100% friendship. This proves that it is never too late to live out your dreams and experience life at its fullest. If you can also say you have wonderful friends to do this with, then you are truly blessed. As Maude says, ‘I want to plan out my living years with my friends.’ Enjoy!”

Making sure the show goes on is accomplished by an accomplished group of workers: 

- Philip Schuyler is the stage manager, a job he has undertaken in previous productions. He is equally at home onstage demonstrating his comic licks. 

- Charlie White is the man who makes sure it all happens, the producer. He, too, frequently acts in RSVP shows. 

- Michele Dawes gives props to props. 

- Tammy Willcox is casting light upon the stage from a little box at the back of the room. 

- Brandon Almazan is in charge of art. 

- Ethan Everhart makes sure you can hear what goes on. 

- Peggy Kilburn is making certain you see and hear about all this work.

- And Stephen Ellison designed the lighting array.

Shows are $7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays (Feb. 28, March 1, 7, 8), 2 p.m. on Sundays (March 2, 9). Tickets are $17 for Adults, $12 for Seniors, Youth, Military. Tickets are available at the door or online via www.rsvptheatre.org - or for cash or check only (but no fee) at Brightside Gallery, 170 Worth Street, Asheboro, during shop hours of 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.