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“Once More with Feeling” at Birdcage Theatre February 22-Mar
Birdcage Theatre is excited to announce that our next production, “Once More, with Feeling,” which opens on February 22, will star two professional actors from Hungary. Leila Krusch and Laszlo Szontagh have the leading roles in this sophisticated comedy, directed by Herman Tuider.
But how did this talented and beautiful couple end up in Oroville? Their story sounds like a romantic movie plot. They met at the renowned Harlequin Theater in Budapest. Leila was studying foreign trade and currency, when a friend suggested they go to an audition together. They were accepted as students and soon joined a troupe of 7 actors which traveled around the country. Meanwhile Laszlo, always interested in drama, had grown up in the University town of Pecs. At age 16 he hitchhiked to Budapest where he auditioned at the Harlequin. He had returned home and was hoeing corn with his father, who revealed that the Harlequin had sent him a letter of acceptance, but that his mother had hidden it because she wanted Laszlo to attend the University. The boy then returned to Budapest. He was too late to be accepted, but he was able to stay at a friend’s flat, and he found jobs working at night. He spent all day, every day at the Harlequin. After 3 months he was hired as a technician, and a few months later became a leading man. Among other roles he played the title role in Ferenc Molnar’s Liliom, the play upon which the musical Carousel was based. He and Leila acted together in Romeo and Juliet, and love bloomed.
They had achieved success and professional status as actors in Hungary, but decided in about 1998 to come to America, choosing Oroville because Leila’s mother Eva had married a member of the Dobis family, well-known in Oroville for singing and acting ability. In 2004 Leila tried out for and won a role in “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” directed by Herman Tuider. She has been delighting Birdcage audiences ever since, and has won several “Birdies.” But Laszlo who was working out of town, had no chance to act. However he is now pursuing a career locally as an independent film-maker, and finally the couple will be able to act together on stage once again. This promises to be a thrilling event for theatre-goers.
“Once More, with Feeling,” written by Harry Kurnitz, premiered on Broadway October 21, 1958, and ran for 263 performances. The original stars were Joseph Cotton and Arlene Francis, with Walter Matthau as the hapless manager, a role which G. Graham Abernathy takes on in the current production. Laszlo plays a temperamental and perfectionist conductor (Leila claims the part suits his personality). Leila is the wife who has smoothed over his relationships with musicians and others, but is fed up and wants a divorce. But since they never actually were married, they have to marry in order to divorce. The play was filmed in 1960 with Yul Brynner and Kay Kendall as the battling couple.
Director Herman Tuider rounds out his cast with Wade Gess in a comic double role, along with Mike Williams, Bill Tronson and Priscilla Gonzalez. The play will be performed February 22, 23, 24, 29 and March 1,2,7, 8 and 9. Performances are scheduled at 7:30 on Friday and Saturday evenings, and 2 pm on Sunday afternoons. Advance tickets are available in Oroville at the Discount Bookstore, 1515 Myers, and Galeria Mexicana, 1574 Huntoon. Tickets are $10 ($5 for pre-teens). A light buffet is served free of charge after the show on opening night. Call the theatre at (530) 533-BIRD (2473) for reservations, or visit our website at www.birdcagetheatre.net.
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