Love Is A Four-letter Word: Tin Building Theatre shares the love with its spring show “Funny Little Thing Called Love,” a comedy by Jones, Hope and Wooten in four performances over two weeks
CLIFTON – Love can be romantic; love can be passionate; love can be sweet; love can be caring; love can be complicated. And sometimes love can be funny.
The Bosque Arts Center’s Tin Building Theater brings that love that elicits chuckles, giggles and full laugh-out-louds in four performances of the Jones, Hope and Wooten comedy “Funny Little Thing Called Love,” their 2023 spring show. It’s like a farcical remake of the British film “Love Actually.”
“We like comedies,” Director Don Boysen said. “There is enough seriousness and drama in the world without our help. So we want people to come out and just have a bit of fun. This is one of the best crews we’ve had.”
The show times are a Saturday dinner show April 29, at 6:30 p.m.; a Sunday matinee April 30 at 2 p.m., a regular performance Friday May 5 at 7 p.m. and the Closing Dinner Show Saturday May 6 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for Funny Little Thing Called Love are on sale now. Please call the Bosque Arts Center at 254-675-3724 or purchase online at www.bosqueartscenter.org.
A romantic and fabulous full moon connects five lively love story vignettes, taking you around the world with a funny twists and turns.
Two not-so professional San Francisco newscasters unexpectedly show too much PDA during a broadcast about the spectacular full moon event. Over in Dallas, a sleazy Casanova car salesman’s tomcattin’ ways catch up with him when his mama – in aid of his gullible three girlfriends – threatens to out his cheating ways to the world with a massive billboard.
In a Waikiki beach hotel, a group of fun-loving Georgia gals crash their girlfriend’s Hawaiian Honeymoon, and mayhem ensues. On a rooftop London bistro, an American tourist annoys a reserved gentleman just wants to enjoy his glass of wine and a book. Forced to come to his rescue a friendly, tea-drinking lady intervenes with an elaborate lie involving a priest and muscle spasms.
And finally, a spur-of-the-moment Manhattan proposal turns into a mid-life crisis nightmare with a fainting caterer, a botched singing telegram, a suicidal superhero, and the entrance of a scantily dressed ex-wife.
With each vignette, the versatile TBT cast of three men and five women double up to play 28 characters, with super-fast wig and costume changes. Some of the cast – like Connie Terry, Jo Grelle, Michael Richardson and Charles McClean are well-known to the TBT play loving audiences. Not new to the stage but new to the TBT are Summer Bekkelund, Kassidy Cardona, Kevin King and Debbie Roberts.
With their excellent collaboration and acting talents, the endless innuendo in the script and under the guidance of Boysen and Assistant Director Debbie Rollins, they are sure to have the audience holding their sides with laughter and jaws aching. Already during practice, you could feel the cast’s chemistry and that they were having a lot of fun with their many different roles. By the time the performance is over and the moon works its magic, love and laughter will conquer all.
The Tin Building Theatre group has successfully put on several Jones, Hope, Wooten plays in the past, like Doublewide Texas, Doublewide Texas Christmas, The Savannah Sipping Society, Farce of Habit and Honky Tonk Hissy Fit. The play Funny Little Thing Called Love premiered at the Starlight Dinner Theatre in Lansing, MI on Oct. 11, 2013.
Under the motto “Making the World a Happier Place,” the playwrights Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, enjoy the reputation of being three of the most popular and widely-produced playwrights in the United States. They specialize in writing laugh-out-loud comedies and creating vivid strong roles for women. Because of their commitment to and support of local theatres across the nation, they've built a following with legions of loyal fans and have been dubbed "America's Playwrights."
Besides plays, they've written classic television, hit movies, and Off Broadway comedy. Jones co-authored the Off-Broadway comedy “Dearly Departed” and its hit feature film adaptation “Kingdom Come” released by Fox Searchlight Films. Her short stories have been published in literary journals and she has written scripts with projects at ABC, Lifetime, WB, TNT, Paramount and an animated series for Walt Disney Productions.
Winner of the Texas New Playwrights' Award, Hope was Director of Casting for Theatre Communications Group in New York, The Goodman Theatre in Chicago and ABC Television in New York and Los Angeles. With Jones, he wrote for the Emmy-winning Disney television series “Teacher's Pet.” Together with Jones and Wooten, Nicholas wrote for USA, WB, UPN, SYFY, Nickelodeon and Fox.
Writer and producer for many seasons of the classic television series The Golden Girls, Wooten won the Writers Guild of America award. He co-created the CBS series “The Five Mrs. Buchanans” and was the executive producer of the Fox comedy “The Crew,” NBC's “For Your Love” and UPN's “Half & Half.” Also a Billboard Award-winning songwriter, Wooten has written tunes for television and film.
Between them, Jessie, Nicholas and Jamie have written for an astonishingly diverse roster of performers, including Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, Betty White, Jack Black, Debbie Reynolds, LL Cool J, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Tyne Daly, Bea Arthur, Louie Anderson, Taraji P. Henson, George Burns, RuPaul, Dolly Parton and many, many more.
Photos by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS
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