“Enter Laughing”
Based on the biographical book by Carl Reiner/adapted
for the stage by Joseph Stein
Carl Reiner is one of America’s funniest men and a famous movie director. "Enter Laughing" is set around 1940 and deals with Reiner's fictional alter ego, David. A young Bronx lad in between high school and college, David's desperate to become an actor - no matter that his parents are bent on his becoming a druggist.
David's working in a machine shop part-time, making sewing machines for women's hats. While his parents (Mr. & Mrs. Kolowitz) want him to go to college, his boss (Mr. Forman) wants him to learn the sewing-machine trade and eventually take over the business.
But David has his sights set on bigger things. He wants to become a famous actor, in part because he's convinced a star can have his pick of women. He already sees himself as a sort of Don Juan type. He's got a regular girlfriend (Wanda) and he's also convinced that an acting-school teacher's daughter (Angela) and a shop bookkeeper (Miss B) have fallen for him.
Squeezed into a three-day time period, "Enter Laughing" bubbles with David's attempts to juggle his alleged harem of females, his panicked preparations for a his first stage role two days hence, as well as his desperate struggle not to let his parents - who loathe the acting profession - find out what he's up to.
Carl Reiner initially rose to fame as an actor/writer of NBC's immortal "Your Show of Shows," the most popular live-comedy series of the early 1950s. (Playwright Stein later gained immortality as script writer for "Fiddler on the Roof").
Besides those mentioned, other roles in "Enter Laughing" include David's guardian-angel pal (Marvin); the egotistical director of an alleged acting studio (Marlowe); Various other actors at the theatre and stage manager (Pike).
Production Dates:
Oct. 26, 27, Nov. 2, 3 – 8:00 PM
Sunday, Nov. 4 – 3:00 PM
Box Office: 269-323-5270