Leading Ladies

by Ken Ludwig

Comedy / 5m, 3f / Unit set.

In this hilarious comedy by the author of Lend Me A Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo, two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing "Scenes from Shakespeare" on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. When they hear that an old lady in York, PA is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren't nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady's vivacious niece, Meg, who's engaged to the local minister. Meg knows that there's a wide world out there, but it's not until she meets "Maxine and Stephanie" that she finally gets a taste of it.

Genres: Plays, School, Theatre, Comedy, Drama

120 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2010

About the author

KEN LUDWIG is an internationally-acclaimed playwright whose work has been performed in more than 30 countries in over 20 languages. He has had 6 shows on Broadway and 6 in the West End. He has won two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, the Edgar Award, the SETC Distinguished Career Award, the Edwin Forrest Award for Services to the Theatre and he is a McCarter/Sallie B. Goodman Fellow. His plays have been commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Bristol Old Vic. His first play on Broadway, Lend Me A Tenor, won three Tony Awards and the New York Times called it "one of the two great farces by a living writer." His other best-known Broadway and West End shows include Crazy For You (5 years on Broadway, Tony Award Winner for Best Musical), Moon Over Buffalo, Leading Ladies, Twentieth Century, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Game’s Afoot, The Fox on the Fairway, Midsummer/Jersey, The Three Musketeers, Treasure Island and The Beaux’ Stratagem. His plays have starred Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Lynn Redgrave, Mickey Rooney, Hal Holbrook, Dixie Carter, Tony Shalhoub, Anne Heche, Joan Collins, and Kristin Bell. His book, How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare, was published in June 2013 by Random House, and his work has been published by the Yale Review. He has degrees from Harvard, where he studied music with Leonard Bernstein, Haverford College and Cambridge University. For more information, please visit www.kenludwig.com

Reviews

[✰ Liz ✰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leading Ladies is a funny comedy about two Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo. They find themselves struggling to make ends meet. Then they find out a rich old lady in York, PA, named Florence, is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews. They make a plan to go and collect the inheritance. The only problem is they find out when they get there it isn't actually nephews that she left the fortune too but nieces. Quickly, they decide to pass themselves off as women...no problem!



In the meantime, Leo falls for Florence's actual niece Meg. Jack falls for Florence's aide Audrey. Although Florence makes a turn for the better, the two men continue on as women all while trying to win the hearts of Meg and Audrey.

This play premiered at the Alley Theatre in 2004.



Overall, I found Leading Ladies to be hilarious and loads of fun. I am looking forward to seeing this on the stage!

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is barely an original thought in this entire play. It is "Some Like it Hot"; it is "Charley's Aunt"; it is "Bosom Buddies"... It is possibly one of the most derivative plays I have ever read. But it is funny and entertaining and frivolous, nonetheless. Men in drag tend to pull in large-size audiences, so for a small theatre company, say, a community theatre company, this would probably be a good choice to sell tickets. It would provide two-hours of irreverent escapism, which, sometimes, is all that a theatre company is looking for.

2.5/5

[Joey Hertel · Rating 5 out of 5]

i probably read this upwards of 50 times through everything, and honestly still thought it was hilarious by closing night. yay cds theatreworks.
and yay meg <3

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with Ludwig, and this is a lot of fun, but he is going through the motions here a bit.

[sam.vvitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This script is so funny I can’t wait to work on the show in the fall

[Stuart Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another hilarious farce by comedy playwright Ken Ludwig, this one with twists on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and the "Some Like It Hot" movie.
Two touring English actors find themselves in York, PA, wherr they are performing. One of the elderly patrons is in failing health and has sent our notices searching for her long lost relatives, Max and Stevie, in order to notify them of their pending inheritance. The two actors arrive pretending to be the nephews. Upon arrival and meeting the family, they learn that the heirs are not nephews, but nieces, Maxine and Stephanie! Undeterred, they dig into their costume trove and find some dresses, and proceed to try to pass themselves off as women to try to gain the inheritance. No spoilers, but it is a comedy farce, so the usual mistaken identities and inadvertent romances all become part of the plot.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to get this script before auditions and casting for the performance that I should be a part of in a couple months. It was much better than I had anticipated, since my limited experience in theatre hadn’t exposed me to Ken Ludwig before. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments throughout and the story didn’t outstay it’s welcome. There was one very convenient plot device at the beginning with the meeting of a person with just the kind of knowledge our men needed, but that can be forgiven. Otherwise, I am look forward to being a part of this production very soon.

[Casey Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently performed this show and it absolutely a fun play. Not the finest of Ludwig's plays with quite a few holes or questionable choices but still fun to perform and the audience got a kick out of it

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny, but requires two lovely young women, plus three virile men of an appropriate age. Maybe with another bunch of actors.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun for fans of farce and Some Like it Hot! Can't wait to see the Gulfshore Theater production.

[addy · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3

[Kathy Pero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny play. Challenging costumes and set design, but would be loads of fun to do.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absolute tosh - it wishes it were Some Like it Hot or Twelfth Night but it's not fit to be mentioned in the same breath. Just awful, sexist, uninspiring nonsense.

[Chris Kenyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was hilariously funny!!

[Cheryl Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent play by Ken Ludwig!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny stuff!

[Suzanne Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hysterical. A must see.

[Javier Fernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some Like It Hot's stepchild has some funny moments.

[Valerie Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so excited to do this play

[Grace Coe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meg is a bisexual queen 👑

[Regine · Rating 3 out of 5]

With farce, the fun is all in the performance. As it is, the Shakespeare intrusions did have me giggling. If done with gusto, this play could be a hoot.

[Katie Bially · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got the part of Audrey in a local community theatre production and I am so excited to bring this comedy to life. It's cute, simple and just a hoot.

[Jack Millis]

Not the playwright’s best, but fun. Some Like It Hot meets Charlie’s Aunt.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically Some Like It Hot for the stage. Two actors, Jack and Leo, decide to pose as the missing daughters of a rich, dying woman to claim some of her inheritance. Arriving in York, Pennsylvania, they both immediately fall in love with local women, while the wealthy woman continues to stay cantankerously alive. It doesn't sound like much on paper, and the neither the ethics nor the believability of the story bear much scrutiny, but that's not really the point with farce, and Ludwig creates some lovable scoundrels and lots of very funny situations.

[Tiffany Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ludwig has some great comedies to his credit; LL doesn't jump off the page like his other stuff has for me (MOON OVER BUFFALO, for example). A lot of this is the same farcical tropes we see a lot of in comic theater. Nevertheless, I think that with strong direction and a creative cast this could be a fun romp for the audience. 3.5 - 4-ish stars

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious farce with all the trimmings--cross dressing, complicated love snarls (we're way past triangles, boy) and comedic timing. Doors are slammed, wigs are pulled off, faces are kissed. I saw it on stage (minus the curtain call) and reading the play made me want to direct it myself. Hooray!!

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good old fashioned farce-uproariously funny!

[George Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

good old fashioned comedy featuring men posing as women with a bit of modern subversive undertones in act 2

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A raucous farce that romps through mid-50s middle America to deliver a brilliantly twisted plot of love, transvestism, and chronically incompetent doctoring.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny but uneven play. I can see its charm but I felt there were so many missed moments of real feeling. Quaint but nothing hitting me.