MANSFIELD — It’s hard to believe Suzanne Allen has never shared a Mansfield Playhouse stage with Renee Rebman and Johnna Gustafson.
Especially when you see the trio of local veteran actors perform as Connie, Leona and Millie, three bridge-playing, old friends from Birmingham, Ala., in the hilarious comedy “Exit Laughing.”
Their long-time friendship on display doesn’t appear to be acting. Directed by Heidi Ankrum, the show on the Mansfield Playhouse 2nd Stage opens Friday at 8 p.m.
“Isn’t that funny? I mean, when you think about it, we’ve done a zillion shows and not one time have I been with any of those folks,” Allen said Wednesday night before a dress rehearsal.
“That’s been really fun because I have always admired Johnna and Renee and it’s been really fun and interesting to actually get to work with them. We have laughed so much,” Allen said.
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Josie Burns makes a point to Johnna Gustafson during a dress rehearsal of “Exit Laughing” on Wednesday evening at the Mansfield Playhouse.
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(From left) Renee Rebman, Johnna Gustafson and Suzanne Allen perform together during a dress rehearsal of “Exit Laughing” on Wednesday evening at the Mansfield Playhouse.
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Renee Rebman (right) makes a point to Johnna Gustafson during “Exit Laughing” at the Mansfield Playhoue.
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(From left) Suzanne Allen, Johnna Gustafson and Renee Rebman play three cardplaying old friends in “Exit Laughing,” a comedy that opens on the 2nd Stage at the Mansfield Playhouse on Friday night.
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The show answers one primary question: When the biggest highlight in your life for the past 30 years has been your weekly bridge night out with the “girls,” what do you do when one of your foursome inconveniently dies?
In the case of this trio of “heroines,” you “borrow” the deceased friend’s ashes from the funeral home for one last card game.
What ensues is the wildest, most exciting night of their lives involving a police raid, a stripper and a whole new way of looking at all the fun you can have when you’re truly living.
Rebman and Gustafson have 85 shows combined — many of them on stage together. Playing old friends on stage is old hat for the duo.
“Renee made me do the show,” Gustafson said with a laugh. “Well, honestly, she talked me into it and I am glad she did because I haven’t really done anything since COVID.
“I have been kind of a homebody, haven’t really gone anywhere or done anything,” Gustafson said. “It’s kind of nice to be out again.”
Rebman, whose first show at the Mansfield Playhouse came in 1978, said the strong comedy was what was needed to bring her back on stage for the first time since the pandemic hit in March 2019.
“I like the camaraderie of the the three older women. You can tell they’re true friends, even though they get on each other’s nerves. And (my character) gets on everyone’s nerves. But it’s funny and you can tell they love each other. I like that,” Rebman said.
Josie Burns, who plays Gustafson’s college-age daughter in the show, has become a Mansfield Playhouse regular in recent years. But she is making her debut in the cozy confines of the 2nd Stage.
Burns has learned some of the rules found on larger stages are a bit more relaxed in a room where the audience is literally just a few feet away.
“The kind of things that I thought I know … like, ‘Don’t upstage people. Watch this. Watch that.’ It’s not exactly the same down here.
“Heidi has told me you don’t have to be as stringent about the ‘three-quarter cheat’ (to the audience) when you are down here this close. So just re-learning how to orient myself in this space has been more challenging than I was expecting,” Burns said.
“But when I read this script, I knew this show was going to be a lot of fun,” Burns said.
Ankrum, directing her third 2nd Stage show, said the cast, including OSU-Mansfield student Jeffrey Hutchison, has meshed together wonderfully.
The show has some bawdy humor typical of 2nd Stage performances.
“It’s 2nd Stage. It’s what we do,” she said with a laugh. “It’s along the same lines as the other shows that I’ve directed down here when it comes to the level of inappropriateness.”
Tickets have sold briskly for the show since they went on sale. With a capacity of about 80 per show, those wanting to see it need to move quickly.
“When people tell me they are going to get tickets, I tell them, “Well, open your phone right now and get tickets. They will be done,'” Ankrum said.
Rachel Ann — Josie Burns
Connie Harland — Johnna Gustafson
Leona — Renee Rebman
Millie — Suzanne Allen
Policeman/Bobby — Jeffrey Hutchison
Show Dates: Nov. 11-12, 18-19 at 8 p.m.
Buy tickets online at https://mansfieldplayhouse.com/tickets/tickets/
