McHenry County College theater to present 'Moon Over Buffalo'

Paul (Brendan Gaughan) tries to keep the peace between George and Charlotte Hay (Jay Geller and Shannon Mayhall) as they fight over which play they should do in McHenry County College's production of "Moon Over Buffalo," which opens at 7 p.m. June 9 and continues June 10, 16-17, 23-25 and at 2 p.m. June 11, 18 and 25 in the Black Box Theatre in Building E at the college. Courtesy of McHenry County College

George Hay (Jay Geller) has had enough of his mother-in-law Ethel (Kathie Comella) in McHenry County College's production of "Moon Over Buffalo," which opens at 7 p.m. June 9. The play continues on June 10, 16-17, 23-25 and at 2 p.m. June 11, 18 and 25 in the Black Box Theatre in Building E at the college. Courtesy of McHenry County College

Posted May 30, 2017 1:01 am

Submitted by McHenry County College

The Black Box Summer Theatre, McHenry County College's new professional theater, will present as part of MCC's 50th Anniversary celebration, Ken Ludwig's hilarious comedy, "Moon Over Buffalo," directed by Regina Belt-Daniels.

In the madcap comedy tradition of "Lend Me a Tenor," the hilarious "Moon Over Buffalo" centers on George and Charlotte Hay, fading stars of the 1950s. At the moment, they're playing "Private Lives" and "Cyrano de Bergerac" in repertory theater in Buffalo, New York with five actors. On the brink of a disastrous split-up caused by George's dalliance with a young ingenue, they receive word that they might just have one last shot at stardom: Frank Capra is coming to town to see their matinee, and if he likes what he sees, he might cast them in his movie remake of "The Scarlet Pimpernel."

Unfortunately for George and Charlotte, everything that could go wrong does go wrong, abetted by a visit from their daughter's clueless fiancé and hilarious uncertainty about which play they're actually performing, caused by Charlotte's deaf, old stage-manager mother who hates every bone in George's body (Samuel French).

"Moon Over Buffalo" is directed by Regina Belt-Daniels of Crystal Lake, with set design by Tom Kesling of Glenview, lighting design by Rick Amundsen of Woodstock, costume design by Kathy Brunke of Woodstock, props design by Lisa Mages of Woodstock, stage combat by Bill Daniel of Chicago and stage manager Kathryn McCord of Crystal Lake.

The cast includes Shannon Mayhall of Cary, winner of the 2016 Broadway World Chicago Award for Best Actress in a play (Resident/Equity); Jay Geller of Kildeer, chair of theater at McHenry County College; Jeff Cook of Crystal Lake, director of the "Upstaged Web Series"; Trace Gamache of Crystal Lake; Sean Plotts of Wonder Lake; Brendan Gaughan of Woodstock; Katherine Kallaus of Crystal Lake and Kathie Comella of Woodstock.

"Moon Over Buffalo" runs at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturday, June 9-10, 16-17, 23-25 and at 2 p.m. Sundays, June 11, 18 and 25 in the Black Box Theatre in Building E of the college, 8900 Route 14, Crystal Lake. Tickets are $12 for students, seniors, MCC employees and alumni and $15 for the general public. Call (815) 455-8746 or email jgeller@mchenry.edu for reservations and ticket information.

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