BY SAMANTHA HEARN
Brentwood’s Towne Centre Theatre is about to debut “You Can’t Beat The House,” a screwball comedy about two minor league burglars.
The play is written by Pat Cook, and is presented by arrangement with Eldridge Plays and Musicals. The director is Eric Crawford, with Drew Ann Borsos as assistant director and Sarah Baugh as producer.
The story follows two minor league burglars who break into a house and are surprised to find the place is for sale. Before they can leave, two prospective buyers, Conrad and Glenda, show up to see the house. The burglars, Merle and Howie, figure the best way to get out of the situation is to pretend to be the real estate agents until they can escape.
Merle shows the house while Howie ducks out to get the car. This all works well until the real agent shows up and Merle has to juggle the couple and the agent. Just as Merle gets ride of the realtor and is about to show the door to Conrad and Glenda, Howie arrives with news that their car has been towed away.
Add to the cast a cop looking for two suspicious guys in the neighborhood, the policeman’s mother, Conrad’s secretary, and Glenda’s mother, you have a parade of oddball characters. There’s also a ghost in the house, Madame Zenobia.
Conrad and Glenda are played by Michael Welch and Jennifer Bennett. Merle is played by Cabot Pyle and Howie is played by Jakob Reuter. Playing the cop is Perry Poston, and the cop’s mother is being played by Melissa Williams. Conrad’s secretary is played by Lily Norton and Glenda’s mother is played by Pam Funderburg. Madame Zenobia is played by Karen Yates.
“You Can’t Beat The House” opens Sept. 30 and runs through Oct. 15. Tickets can be purchased at www.townecentretheatre.tix.com or by calling 615-221-1174. Show times are at 8 p.m. for evening performances and at 2:30 p.m. for Sunday shows. The doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain.
Towne Centre Theatre is located at 136 Frierson Street in Brentwood.
Samantha Hearn reports for Home Page Media Group. She can be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @samanthahearn.
