Rumor Has It, 'Rumors' Rocked!

'Rumors' was performed on the Allaert Stage the first weekend in October 2018.

'Rumors,' by the late Neil Simon, is a farcical play about a group of wealthy couples attending a dinner party. They are celebrating the 10th wedding anniversary of their good friends Charlie and Myra.

The first couple, Ken and Chris Gorman (sophomore Tyler Hughes and senior Sarah Goodall), discover that Charlie has a bullet hole in his earlobe, and Myra is nowhere to be found. Lenny and Claire Ganz (junior T.J. Green and sophomore Ellie Larson) soon arrive and learn about the situation. The four of them must try to keep the secret from the other couples, Ernie and Cookie Cusack (sophomore Luke Peterson and junior Abbie Carpenter) and Glenn and Cassie Cooper (junior Jeffrey Harper and sophomore Allison Hutson).

Eventually, the police (first years Joe Lasher and Annie Ladehoff) arrive to investigate. The play ends in a flurry of theatrics and confusion. You can see photos of the 'Rumors' cast in action on Flickr.

The cast was met with numerous challenges throughout the process; the biggest challenge was perfecting the comedic timing of the farce. The cast learned how comedic timing leads to either the success or failure of a joke. Timing is a nuanced skill that sometimes depends on something as small as a change of pace or inflection.

Despite their trials, the cast overcame those challenges and benefitted from them in the end.

"My favorite part about 'Rumors' was how close the cast got," said Goodall. "We dealt with some difficult things in the middle of the rehearsal process, but we were all there for each other. In the end, we put on a great show. It was amazing to have people laugh and enjoy our performance."

There were about 200 audience members at each performance, which was more than expected. The audience seemed to engage in the performances and laughed throughout the production. Many compliments were heard echoing throughout Galvin after each performance.

C.D. Adamson from Central College in Pella was one of the audience members. He was also the production's respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. He complimented the opening lighting of colorful blocks across the set. He enjoyed that it contributed to the "wackiness" of the production. He also loved the set and the "perfectly 80s" costumes designed by Dianne Dye. In the end, he nominated Tyler Hughes as Ken Gorman and Ellie Larson as Claire Ganz for the KCACTF Irene Ryan acting competition due to their outstanding performances.

Overall, 'Rumors' was another successful production at St. Ambrose University. Everyone involved hopes the production paid a worthy tribute to the late Neil Simon.