{"id":363393,"date":"2025-01-20T08:17:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=363393"},"modified":"2025-01-20T08:17:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:17:35","slug":"neil-simons-rumors-delivers-its-timeless-hilarity-at-vienna-theatre-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/01\/20\/neil-simons-rumors-delivers-its-timeless-hilarity-at-vienna-theatre-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Simon&#8217;s &#8216;Rumors&#8217; delivers its timeless hilarity at Vienna Theatre Company"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s so easy to make a story about wealthy people\u2019s foibles exhaustingly on-the-nose and more preachy, depressing, or frustrating than entertaining. Neil Simon\u2019s <em>Rumors <\/em>premiered before <em>Seinfeld <\/em>and <em>It\u2019s<\/em> <em>Always Sunny in Philadelphia<\/em> \u2014 and was likely an inspiration for the former \u2014 but now that these stories have dominated the \u201cstories about terrible people\u201d genre in our 2025 consciousness, others must fight for relevancy and unique excellence. With a play, this fight comes down to performance.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s even harder to make a story about \u201cbad people\u201d both enlightening and entertaining when the story in question centers around very real, difficult marital strife. Neil Simon\u2019s prose is full of easily missed subtleties that keep all this from being an emotional slog \u2014 it requires performances that bring them out for Simon\u2019s meaning to shine through, which the Vienna Theatre Company delivers under Eddie Page\u2019s direction. These performances blend moments of exposition into convincing conversation. We love to hate these characters as this production represents them; we see their reasoning for their terrible behavior and even sympathize, while seeing clearly where they strayed.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_363399\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-363399\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-363399\" src=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x600-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x600-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x600-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x600-1-460x345.jpg 460w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x600-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-363399\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ann Brodnax (Claire Ganz), Dave Wright (Lenny Ganz), Steve Rosenthal (Ernie Cusack), Anne Hilleary (Cookie Cusack), Nick Kourtis (Glenn Cooper), and Ilan Komrad (Ken Gorman) in \u2018Rumors.\u2019 Photo by Eddie Page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Simon wrote this farce, which premiered in 1988, in response to some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1988\/11\/13\/theater\/for-neil-simon-the-prescription-was-farce.html\">\u201cdifficult times,\u201d<\/a> having to do with an impending divorce. This context illuminates how the play juxtaposes ridiculous, self-imposed challenges \u2014 childlike pettiness and selfishness in a relationship \u2014 with real ones \u2014 indicated by central character Charley Brock\u2019s attempt to take his own life \u2014 and in doing so, shows the utter waste of losing perspective on meaningless battles. If a production of <em>Rumors<\/em> brings out these subtleties in performance to lay bare the utter stupidity of these disputes per Neil Simon\u2019s likely intent (he did call the play <em>Rumors: A Farce<\/em>), the central dichotomy fueling the play\u2019s brilliant satire comes to life. And the Vienna Theatre Company\u2019s production does it right.<\/p>\n<p>Much of these subtleties in performance come down to the tiniest of physical gestures, pauses, and enunciations to create maximum realism in delivery, and to fully cement who these characters are.<\/p>\n<p>From the very beginning of the show, Ilan Komrad and Liz Owerbach as Ken Gorman and Chris Gorman \u2014 the first couple to discover Charley\u2019s attempted suicide \u2014 pull these roles off beautifully. Komrad, a 7-year veteran of video game voiceover work, employs a flawless Bugs Bunny impression for his performance. The cast jacks up the script\u2019s humor to such a hilariously effective degree that the Looney Tunes echo isn\u2019t a distraction but more humor the show mines wonderfully.<\/p>\n<p>Dave Wright excels in giving us a profoundly likable Lenny Ganz, delivering his famous monologue with authenticity rather than mania. His use of stuttering throughout most of the scene adds realism and appeal \u2014 so that when he doesn\u2019t stutter in the part where he describes how much he really, really loves his wife, we see how much that part, if nothing else, is real \u2014 all of which reinforces how much we already like Lenny. Ann Brodnax is a phenomenal Claire Ganz, delivering her one-liners from inside glass houses with believability and real vividness in the way of the character\u2019s amusing hypocrisy. Christian Aguilar is a powerful presence as Officer Welch.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_363400\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-363400\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-363400\" src=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x1000-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x1000-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x1000-1-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x1000-1-368x460.jpg 368w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Rumors-VCT-800x1000-1-768x960.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-363400\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">TOP LEFT: Kate Beirly (Cassie Cooper), Dave Wright (Lenny Ganz), Anne Brodnax (Claire Ganz), and Liz Owerbach (Chris Gorman); TOP RIGHT: Steve Rosenthal (Ernie Cusack) and Anne Hilleary (Cookie Cusack), in \u2018Rumors.\u2019 Photos by Eddie Page. ABOVE: The cast of \u2018Rumors.\u2019 Photo by Caleb Lester.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As Glenn Cooper and Cassie Cooper, Nick Koutris and Katie Bierly perfectly execute the image of a self-obsessed, aspiring politician and the young woman he\u2019s dressed up as his trophy wife. Bierly plays her with nuance \u2014 as someone who already wasn\u2019t the most selfless individual but\u00a0 has been pushed by her chauvinist husband, who\u2019s just fine with humiliating her in public, into doing whatever she can to feel autonomous in her relationship. Bierly has been dressed in a hyper-short sparkly gold-sequin dress that she keeps having to pull down. Bierly\u2019s wardrobe, hair, performance, and casting make her appear significantly younger than Koutris \u2014 not to mention he\u2019s several feet taller \u2014 telling us all we need to know about this arrangement. Koutris plays Glenn\u2019s aggressive misogyny with piercing realism, and the rest of the cast\u2019s awkward silence and expressions in key moments bring to life the silent complicity of the other party guests during and after each disparaging remark.<\/p>\n<p>Koutris\u2019 Glenn\u2019s abuse of this extremely young woman, as well as his fast-talking persona and full beard, make him reminiscent of more than one relevant political figure. Intentional or not, this casting and Michelle Harris\u2019 costume and hair and makeup design subtly remind us of this character\u2019s modern counterparts.<\/p>\n<p>Any faltering in this production is barely noticeable. In moments, the men\u2019s tuxedos and tuxedo shirts don\u2019t appear to fit as well as they should, particularly at the beginning of the night before the unfolding insanity \u2014 especially in the case of Glenn, who as a womanizing politician type would likely be fitted meticulously.<\/p>\n<p>Also \u2014 based on a previous viewing of this play and a skim of multiple script PDFs \u2014 I believe this production may have added significantly more profanities than were in the original script, particularly the use of \u201cJesus\u201d and variations thereof. If any were added, the profanities frequently extended beyond weaving the play\u2019s narrative fabric and became distracting. More caveating for \u201cstrong adult language throughout\u201d would be appreciated.<\/p>\n<p>The Vienna Theatre Company has put on a phenomenal production with uniquely excellent performers. They have succeeded in performing an especially difficult piece of theater that has stood the test of time for a reason \u2014 and will continue to shed insight on how we relate to each other no matter which decade it\u2019s seen in. Go see it in this one.<\/p>\n<p>Running Time: Approximately two hours and 15 minutes plus a 15-minute intermission.<\/p>\n<p><b><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.viennatheatrecompany.org\/rumors.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rumors<\/a> <\/i><\/b>plays through February 2, 2025, presented by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.viennatheatrecompany.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vienna Theatre Company<\/a>\u00a0performing at Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St SE, Vienna, VA. Tickets, priced at $16, are available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.viennatheatrecompany.org\/tickets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>online<\/strong><\/a> or in person at the Vienna Community Center.<\/p>\n<p><strong>COVID Safety:<\/strong> Wearing masks is optional.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Rumors\u00a0<\/i><\/b>by Neil Simon<br \/>\nDirected by Eddie Page<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The play\u2019s brilliant satire gets a phenomenal production with uniquely excellent performers.   By ALEXANDRA BOWMAN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":363399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[51,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-363393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-theater","8":"tag-eddie-page","9":"tag-neil-simon"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.0 (Yoast SEO v26.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Neil Simon&#039;s &#039;Rumors&#039; 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In addition to writing and drawing occasional cartoons for DCTA, she has written for Screen Rant, the John Kerry and John Kasich-founded climate platform World War Zero, Washington City Paper, the Weekly Humorist, the Society of Professional Journalists News, Inside Higher Education, and the satirical theater publication The Broadway Beat. She also served as the official political cartoonist for the Lincoln Project during the 2020 presidential election. 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