The comedy “Women in Jeopardy” comes to First Folio Theatre in Oak Brook.
Directed by Janice L. Blixt of Chicago, the play runs Jan. 24-Feb. 25. Performances are at 8 p.m. Jan. 24-27 and 31, and Feb. 2-3, 7, 9-10, 14, 16-17, 21, 23 and 24. Performances are at 3 p.m. Jan. 28, Feb. 4, 8, 11, 15, 18, 22 and 24. Performances are at 4 p.m. Feb. 10, 17 and 24.
“Women in Jeopardy” was written by Wendy MacLeod, author of such plays as “Schoolgirl Figure” and “The House of Yes,” which was turned into a film starring Parker Posey.
The premise is this: divorcees Mary and Jo are suspicious of their friend Liz’s new dentist boyfriend. In fact, they think he might be a killer.
“There are three really good friends and they’ve been friends for a long, long time,” Blixt said. “One of them has recently started dating a guy that the other two meet for the first time. And the other two find him a little odd; the guy’s a little weird. Then when they hear about some events that have taken place in the town and the disappearance of a young lady, they start putting pieces together and start thinking the guy might be a serial killer. But it’s funny.”
The cast includes Lydia Berger Gray, Melanie Keller, Amy Montgomery, Joe Foust, Hayley Burgess and Chris Vizurraga. Working with the cast has been a great experience, Blixt said.
“They’re wonderful. They’re so funny and they’re so invested and interesting. It’s one of those shows that’s just a really good time.”
As the artistic director at the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Blixt is used to directing big shows with large casts, she said. She directed “Captain Blood” at First Folio last year, where she met First Folio co-founder and executive director David Rice and the other faces of First Folio. He remembered her and called her about directing “Women in Jeopardy.”
“He sent it to me and it was this small cast, a small, intimate comedy,” she said. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s outside my normal wheelhouse.’ I called him back and said, ‘I’m wondering about this show.’ He said he felt there was more to it than just the kind of wacky-zany; that there was something a little deeper that said a little more about love and friendship. He wanted a director that is used to bringing the most out of the material.”
It didn’t hurt that she enjoyed her experience with First Folio and wanted a second go-around, she said.
“It was really wanting to work with the artists at First Folio again and these terrific people, and also knowing that David Rice, as the head of the theater, would allow me the opportunity to play a little bit and bring some of the aspects out of the show that I don’t think in previous productions they often do.”
She thinks audiences will enjoy the play because it’s a laugh-out-loud funny, with a funny script and great actors, she said.
“I think they’re also just going to enjoy that this is an evening of fun, suspense, a little bit of thrill to it, it’s got a lot of funny, it’s got a lot of humor, a little bit of romance, it’s got something fun for everyone,” she said. “It’s a good time. This is not going to be the kind of show where people go home and think, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m not a good person in the world and I’d better change my life.’ It’s the kind of play where people go home and say, ‘That was fun. Let’s do that again.'”
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
‘Women in Jeopardy’
When: Jan. 24-Feb. 25
Where: First Folio Theatre, Mayslake Peabody Estates, 1717 W. 31st St., Oak Brook
Tickets: $25-$44
Information: 630-986-8067; www.firstfolio.org
