“Leading Ladies” a tough to act in comedy

Four years ago she was a Jewish mother, this weekend she will be a young girl in love—with both a man and a woman.

The two acting roles are the only ones Allison McCarthy has played in her life. When McCarthy played her first part as the mother, her part was minuscule. Now, she will play Meg in the upcoming Bigfork Community Players production of the “Leading Ladies.”

“I’m scared to death,” McCarthy said. “This is quite a bigger role.”

Director Steve Weston asked her to play the role many months ago. At first McCarthy told him no. After being asked a number of times she finally said yes.

McCarthy has her lines down. She smiled a lot during a pseudo-dress rehearsal at Bethany Lutheran Church.

“I have to practice my lines,” she told Clint Cathcart, who plays the part of her fiance, Duncan. She spoke the words with a smirk on her face, barely containing her laughter until it burst out at the end of her line.

“It’s ironic,” she told Weston, when he asked her why she laughed during rehearsal.

Meg (McCarthy) was telling Duncan (Cathcart) that she needed to practice her lines for the play she is going to be in.

“Leading Ladies” is complex to act in. There’s a play within a play, two men pretending to be women, and Meg is supposed to get married to Duncan, but falls in love with another man and her supposed cousin. The other man, Leo—he turns out to be the same person as her cousin. Those roles are played by community players regular Scott Roskam.

“It’s really confusing for Meg,” McCarthy said.

The play was written by Ken Ludwig in 2006. The story follows the story of two Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, who are performing in Pennsylvania’s Amish country. They hear about an elderly lady who is about to die and leave her fortune to her long lost nephews. The two conspire to trick the lady into believing they are the nephews. It turns out that the nephews are actually nieces and Jack and Leo become Maxine and Stephanie.

The comedy unfolds from there, and Meg, the lady’s innocent and inexperienced niece, gets caught in the middle of it all.

Roskam said the complications in the play make the acting tough, but that’s also why he wanted the role of Leo.

He’s played women in previous roles, but usually it’s ridiculous and over the top.

This role is different because he has to pass off as a woman to other characters in the play while playing the part of a man at the same time.

“The challenge is to play believable characters,” Roskam said. “To be both and believable in both.”

“Leading Ladies” will be performed at the Bigfork Center for Performing Arts on Electric Avenue in downtown Bigfork.

The play opens on Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. It runs Feb. 18, 24 and 25 at 8 p.m. as well. Sunday matinees are Feb. 19 and 26 at 2 p.m.