CULLING TALENT: Way Off Broadway Players take to the stage next week
Published 1:55 am Thursday, March 14, 2013
George Wahab said he chose “Right Bed, Wrong Husband” to produce because of its great one-liners.
“This play, by Neil and Caroline Schaffner, is fast-paced and funny,” he said. “These authors are new to the group and fill the bill.”
The Way Off Broadway Players of Belhaven will present the comedy March 21-23 at 8 p.m. in The Playhouse on Pamlico Street.
The play, set in Tampa, Fla., is about a couple and entertaining weekend guests who get an unexpected visitor, a tightwad uncle in charge of disbursing funds from the family’s estate. The uncle mistakes one of the guests as the main character’s new wife and chaos ensues.
The cast of seven includes Hollis Brooks, Lloyd Ballance, Matthew Davis, Mary Wahab, Karan Marslender, Mandy Robbins and George Wahab.
“You just wouldn’t believe how talented they are,” George Wahab said.
M.D. Coleman, an elementary-school principal by day, will make his debut.
“He is our new guy, a principal of Mattamuskeet,” Wahab said. “This is the first time he’s been in a play.”
Wahab discovered Coleman. He approached the novice and asked if he was interested in acting.
“I asked him, ‘Would you like to be in a play?’ and he said, “Yeah, I think I do.’ I’ll stop people in the grocery store,” Wahab said.
The small company recently lost three members, which made casting the first of three productions slated for 2013 a challenge. It was less of a challenge for Wahab because the retired teacher likes to recruit former students.
In fact, one of the leads in “Right Bed, Wrong Husband” is one of his former students.
“Karan, she’s had other parts, but she’s got the lead in this one,” he said. “I taught her in high school. She had a lead in a high school play, and I knew she was going to be good.”
Tickets are available for those who want to see just how good Marslender is. Tickets are $10 each. For reservations, call 943-3796.
“Consider your spot reserved if you do not receive a call back,” Wahab said. “Space is limited, so be sure to call early for the best seats.”