'Rumors' will have you laughing out loud

Four wealthy couples bring their comical personality quirks to a party, where they discover, two by two, that the host and hostess are not to be seen, but their whereabouts are being hidden so the law will not become involved.
This is the main plot of the Neil Simon comedy, Rumors, which made its debut at Hannibal-LaGrange College on Thursday night. Each of the 10 cast members gives a memorable portrayal, with the ladies becoming hysterical at times, and the men also exhibiting some unique personality traits.
The first couple to arrive at the anniversary party of (the invisible) Charlie and Myra Brock is Ken and Chris Gorman, played by Jordan Hosmer and Melinda Stephens. They quickly learn what happened to the couple, but decide to keep it secret from the others.
This does not work for very long. The next couple arriving, Claire and Lenny Ganz (Taylor Smith and Chris Buckles), have been in a traffic accident that gave him a whiplash and “initiated” their new BMW.
They soon become curious and insist on learning why their host is missing, along with the hired help.
Throughout the play, Ken has some of the most comical lines, due to suffering a hearing loss, which also results in his voice being much louder than necessary. When someone tells him “I heard you have a cold,” he responded, “You think I look old?”
The third couple arriving at the party is Ernie and Cookie Cusack (Richard Ulrich and Casyee Davidson). Cookie is perhaps the silliest person in the play, with her unusual behavior. However, she does her part to salvage the party, by cooking the dinner left unprepared by the departure of the family’s cooking staff.
After the fourth couple, the bickering Glenn and Cassie Cooper (Devin Schlote and Jordan Williams), are admitted, Ken blurts out all he knows about the host and hostess, sending the others into a round of individual arguments about why they were not told the truth and bringing the curtain down on Act I.
During intermission two people shared the same opinion of the play: HLG President Woody Burt said he thought it was “one of the best ones we’ve had,” adding “the students do an excellent job.” Andrew Bonnel, a HLG junior studying criminal justice, nearly echoed Burt’s words, noting “I  think it’s funny. It’s the best I’ve been to on campus.”
The second act includes the addition of two more characters, policemen portrayed by Chris Shelden and Jonathan McCloy, who seek to learn what happened to Charlie and Myra.
This is the first drama presented this fall by the HLG Theatre Department. Director Sabrina Price, HLG instructor of theater arts, explained she selected this play because of its “constant series of comical events that just keep stacking on top of one another. It’s a play that made me laugh out loud just while reading, so I knew the possibilities on stage would be endless.”
Additional performances will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, in Parker Theatre at the Roland Fine Arts Center.