What do Mother Goose, Hollywood actors, and a heaping helping of self-deception have in common? They all coalesce in heralded playwright Douglas Carter Beane’s satiric comedy The Little Dog Laughed. The 2006 Tony-nominated Broadway play will run Nov. 6 – 11 at Lamar University.
Beane, author of To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar and As Bees In Honey Drown, wrote Little Dog in response to his own hot-and-cold Hollywood experiences. The play, which has received comparisons to Noël Coward’s linguistically rich comedies, is about Mitchell, an up-and-coming matinee idol; Diane, his take-charge Hollywood agent; Alex, a young drifter; and Ellen, Alex’s needy girlfriend.
The four lead roles will be played by LU theatre majors Jonathan Williams of Lumberton (Mitchell), Jacqueline Gower of Orangefield (Diane), Nathan Foster of Groves (Alex) and DeeDee Howell of Nederland (Ellen).
Howell, a sophomore, is happy to expand her boundaries playing the “girly” Ellen. “She’s a very feminine/debutant type of character, which I haven’t gotten to do before,” Howell says. “I love this play because it is different from any other comedy I’ve been in. The humor is very natural and realistic. It’s not over the top.”
This first play of Lamar Theatre’s 2008-2009 season is directed by faculty member and LU alumus Adam Conrad. Conrad chose the play for both its humor and its message.
“Our first goal is always to entertain,” he says. “We want our audiences to enjoy this show, to laugh, have fun and identify with the characters. But after the curtain has dropped, we hope the message will stay with them and maybe make them think about some of their own choices.”
In the play, Mitchell has a promising career in movies if he can curb his “slight recurring case of homosexuality,” as his agent tactfully phrases it.
Conrad emphasizes that the theme of the play is about the price of success and the choices people make in modern culture to achieve it. “It’s about the masks we’ve probably all worn at one time or another. Or maybe still do. Everyone is faced with choices in life, and sometimes it can be extremely difficult to stay true to yourself.”
The play’s title refers to the Mother Goose poem, “The cat and the fiddle.” “The little dog laughed,” she writes, “to see such sport” as a cow jumping over the moon or a dish running away with a spoon. As the play suggests, the little dog would also surely laugh to see some of the similarly bizarre situations people accept in the name of success.
The Little Dog Laughed premieres Thursday, Nov. 6, in the Studio Theatre at Lamar University, and runs through Tuesday, Nov. 11. All performances have a curtain time of 8 p.m., except for Sunday, which has a 2 p.m. matinee. This play is rated R for mature themes and sexual content.
Admission is free with the donation of three canned goods or other non-perishable food items to benefit the Southeast Texas Food Bank. Otherwise, tickets are $10 general admission; $7 for senior citizens, students and LU faculty/staff; and $5 for LU students.
Please call the Box Office at (409) 880-2250 for tickets or more information or visit us online at www.lamar.edu/theatre.
