By Khalida Sarwari
After a summer hiatus, the Westmont High School performing arts department is back in business with its first production of the year. The subject of the newest play is a Simon Cowell-like character set in a time when there was no TVs or Internet.
The Man Who Came to Dinner, Westmont’s latest production, is a comedy in three acts written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, featuring Ali Molaei as the title character, Sheridan Whiteside, who slips on a patch of ice and breaks his hip at the doorstep of an upper-class couple, Ernest and Daisy Stanley (Ben Gutto and Amy Bentley).
The play is set in the small town of Mesalia, Ohio, in the weeks leading to Christmas in the 1930s. Whiteside is a popular radio personality who fakes an injury to keep his secretary, Maggie (Lauren Nef), from leaving after she falls in love with a news reporter. The inspiration for the lead character was Alexander Woolcott, an American critic and commentator for The New Yorker.
“It is a play about this nasty man,” said director Jeff Bengford. “He’s hysterically funny. He’s a lot like Simon Cowell–he just says things that are so acerbic, you can’t believe the things he says, but at the same time he’s hysterically funny the way he says them.”
This marks the first time the comedy is being produced at Westmont in at least 14 years, Bengford said. The production features 60 students, more than half of whom will be on stage.
Auditions for the play were held in September, and since then the students have been rehearsing every day after school for 2 1/2 hours and for four hours on Saturdays.
Nima Rakhshanifar, a junior who plays news reporter Bert Jefferson, said he is looking forward to taking the stage on opening night.
“It’s been really fun,” Rakhshanifar said. “It’s really time-consuming but it’s going to pay off in the end.”
Those working behind the scenes are equally excited about opening night. Senior Lena Shanley, the play’s set designer, said preparing for the show has been an arduous process, especially given that this marks her first experience in set designing.
“Its difficult,” she said. “It’s a lot more than what I thought it would be, but it’s really fun.”
The department is dedicating the production to Randi Heinrichsen, who over the course of her 35-year career taught math and physical education, as well as produced and acted in many of Westmont’s theatrical productions, before retiring last year.
The Man Who Came to Dinner will premiere at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 30 at the Westmont High School Performing Arts Center, 4805 Westmont Ave. in Campbell. Repeat performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 1, 6, 7 and 8 and at 3 p.m. on Dec. 5.
Admission for the show is $15 for adults and $10 for students. Advance tickets are also available online–$10 for adults and $8 for students–at www.westmontdrama.com.
For more information, call 408.626.3406, ext. 6203.
