River City Players end season with family comedy "Charming Billy"

Those with a thirst for community theater will have one last opportunity to see a performance before the River City Players Group calls it curtains on another season. The group's final performance this season will be "Charming Billy," described as a comedy about "dogs, fleas and family."

The play is described as a family-friendly comedy where "things go from bad to worse when Melanie's dad Ned, an inventor, starts testing his new flea repellent." Somewhere in the mix there is a misdirected campaign for a city office and a misguided prom date.

Confused? Director Rich Behring clarified the plot.

"It centers around an absent-minded father who is preoccupied with inventing all these weird things," he said. "His wife is running for a political office, who is also a volunteer do-gooder at the orphanage, the Humane Society and things like that."

The "crux of it," Behring said, is when the wife comes home to talk to her husband about adopting a little dog named Billy. The husband, only half listening to her, thinks they are adopting a little boy named Billy.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.comArthur Wilhite as Ned Bloom and Brenda Ferguson, as his wife, Ruth Bloom, rehearse a scene from "Charming Billy" by the River City Players.

"Their teenage daughter gets in on the wrong end of the conversation and assumes that her mother is pregnant. It's just a miscommunication-type comedy, sort of in the vein of 'I Love Lucy,'" he said.

Behring appeared in the play when Jackson had a community theater.

In addition to directing, he also has a part on stage. He'll be reprising the role he played in Jackson a few years back.

"I play Jack Tomlinson, who's kind of a petty crook, sleazebag-type of guy running against [the wife] in this election," he said. "So it's been, kind of, a double-duty thing for me."

He said the cast consists of "one extreme to the other."

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.comArthur Wilhite as Ned Bloom, Brenda Ferguson as his wife, Ruth Bloom, and Judy Pratcher as Mrs. Adler rehearse a scene from "Charming Billy" by the River City Players.

"There's about half the cast who have a lot experience on our stage, then there's like five of them who have never been in an RCPG production before," he said.

Dinner performances are Friday and Saturday and continue Nov. 14 and 15 at the River City Yacht Club above Port Cape on Water Street. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., dinner is at 7 and the show begins at 8. The Nov. 13 performance will be a 7 p.m. show-only. Tickets are $25 or $10 for show only. Call 334-0954 to reserve a seat.