Theatre--Performance

 Pat Cook’s new comedy, The New Kid on the Block, will be presented by the Iberia Performing Arts League on Thursday, June 3 and run Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons throughJune 13 at the Essanee Theater in New Iberia.  Evening performances are at 7:30 P.M. and Sunday Matinees are at 3:00 P.M.  Ticket outlets in New Iberia are Delaune’s Pharmacy, Paul’s Flower Shop or Accentrics. Tickets or other information can be obtained by calling the theater at 364-6114 and leaving a message.

The production, directed by Donna Berard, has begun rehearsals and the cast and crew are already having a blast! You will laugh all the way home from this new Pat Cook comedy— Carl, Lloyd and Parker, 3 senior citizens, need to rent out their fourth bedroom to help with the rent. Their problem seems all taken care of when Will shows up for the room, except Will turns out to be a female. The craziness and laughter take off from there. Carl’s reaction is nothing more than part of a plan with Will, his sister, to let her live with them for a while.  But before the brother and sister get to reveal their little secret, the neighborhood gossip, Morgana, has them as sweethearts. Lloyd runs around in his army fatigues doing night maneuvers as Parker sneaks around the neighborhood with his walkie-talkie. Then a secretive woman in black enters the house telling Will that she must leave at once. Will’s daughter, Jolene, comes in to thicken the plot, with some story about leaving her husband and wanting to stay with mom. This is a matter of who’s who, who is telling who what, who is telling the truth about who else and who is really who?

Fred Comeaux, who plays the role of Carl, was the mastermind behind the birth of IPAL, and is on stage once more after a long hiatus from the stage, but not IPAL. According to director, Donna Berard, “I have been wanting to see Mr. Fred back on that stage again for some time.  He is the reason we are all here. Every time I watched Mr. Fred’s face as he watched our productions, I could see the admiration he had for the stage. I just knew that we had to do something to entice him back onto our stage. This play did it!”  Mac Stearns, another veteran actor, is playing Parker Klawson. Walter Brown, a man of many talents within the theatre world, is playing the role of Lloyd Timberlake.  The cast is completed by Susan Clark as Will, Marcella Tracy as Morgana, Michelle Derouen as Jolene and Sheila Derouen as Eleanor Dumfries. “I am so pleased,” Berard said, “to be working with such a great group of people. 

This production is sponsored by the First National Bank of Jeanerette.