Get a ticket for a non-stop laughter-filled journey as the comedy “Boeing, Boeing” takes off Jan. 10 as the third show of the Players Guild of Dearborn’s 86th season.
The 1960s French farce, written by Marc Camoletti, and translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans, is set in Paris, where Bernard has three stewardess-fiancées, each on a different airline.
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Gabriella is on Alitalia, Gretchen is on Lufthansa and Gloria is on TWA. With the help of his housekeeper, Bernard juggles all three until advances in airline technology speed up the flights and set his love life on a flight path for disaster.
His friend Robert, visiting from the states, confuses things further when he cannot keep the storylines straight.
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The show runs Jan. 10 to 12, 17 to 19 and 24 to 26, with show times at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
The theater is at 21730 Madison in Dearborn. For tickets or more information, call 313-561-TKTS or go to www.playersguildofdearborn.org.
Directed by Brian Townsend of Dearborn, the cast features Alex Gojkov of Dearborn as Bernard, Nick Graham of Van Buren Township as Robert and Margaret Kinnell of Dearborn as Berthe, the housekeeper.
Kori Bielaniec of Westland plays Gloria of TWA, while Jennifer Beitzel of Northville plays Gretchen of Lufthansa and Jillian Drapala of Dearborn Heights plays Gabriella of Alitalia.
Townsend said he wanted to direct the show because it is a brilliant farce and even just reading the script is funny.
“Lines are very witty,” Townsend said. “They are very fast, and it was one of those shows that when you read it, it was very easy to visualize the sort of chaos that has to happen on stage.”
He said he loves comedies, especially “split second” ones like “Boeing, Boeing,” so he thought he would give directing it a shot and see what happened.
“We hope that the audience is left gasping at the near-misses that happen over the course of the evening,” Townsend said.
He added that he has been very fortunate to have a cast that just “gets it” and makes the comedy work.
“It’s always a good sign at a rehearsal when they are making each other laugh because they are just enjoying it so much and enjoying each other’s performance,” Townsend said. “I come home kind of hoarse from laughing myself. I am a laugher anyway, but they make it worse!”
Graham, who plays Robert, Bernard’s friend, said his is a very slapstick and physical role, with a lot of running.
“It is kind of ‘the perfect storm,’” Graham said. “I am here on a rare day when (the fiancées) are all here at the same time, and everything had been prepared that it would never happen that way, but lo and behold, it has anyway – so antics ensue.”
Drapala, who plays Gabriella of Alitalia, said her character is a very fiery Italian.
“She won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, and she is a spitfire,” Drapala said. “I love her so much!”
She said she channels the energy from her everyday hectic life and uses it to achieve the spitfire persona.
“I am very outgoing, very personable,” Drapala said. “I love to make people laugh, so I am glad that this character lets me do that.”
She said it is a rare show to have so much comedy in a short span of time.
“Every time a character turns their back, or a door opens, a new plot twist comes in,” Drapala said. “You kind of have to keep yourself on your toes.”
Beitzel, who plays Gretchen from Lufthansa, said she is telling her friends and family that the show reminds her of one big, “Three’s Company” episode.
“It’s so funny every second,” Beitzel said. “I don’t know how we are going to get our lines in because we are always laughing at each other, and the audience is going to laugh at us as we are doing it, so I am just so excited about how high energy it is going to be and how fun it is going to be.”
