Josh Hogan mentioned he’ll do nearly anything for a laugh in his standup comedy routine.
But, in a different role as an actor in the local Mill Race Theatre Company’s latest comedy of “Leading Ladies” running Thursday through Saturday, he goes a step beyond. His character of Jack Gable dresses in drag.
“I’ll do just about anything for a laugh,” he said. “Besides, comedy is my element.”
In the show from writer Ken Ludwig, 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, according to online promotional materials for the show.
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When they hear that an old lady in York, Pennsylvania, 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.
Which makes the cross-dressing understandable.
The production unfolds at Central Middle School’s 180-seat Gray Box Theater at 725 Seventh St. in downtown Columbus. Director Nick Hogan, who is Josh Hogan’s brother, played a small part in the show eight years ago at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. He suggested the presentation for the local troupe.
“And this is shaping up to be really funny (again),” the director said.
He mentioned that maybe the most sensitive challenge he faced at the outset was directing his sibling. But he got encouragement from several peers to set such worries aside and get to work.
“Objectively speaking, I think he’s done a really good job,” Josh Hogan said of the show’s leader. “I’m pretty new to this acting thing. But he’s really very organized, and he’s really creative.”
The director distributes praise among the cast, from actor Jeff Bray playing a part very against his personality type to Ben Jackson stepping in as producer besides also playing a small part as Frank, a member of the Moose. And he sees the production as having a pretty serious place in today’s pretty serious world.
“I think it’s especially important for people laugh when times are tough and when the news cycle can really get you down,” Nick Hogan said. “Plus, this also kind of teaches people the importance of pursuing your dreams.”
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What: Mill Race Theatre Company’s presentation of the Ken Ludwig comedy "Leading Ladies"
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday
Where: Central Middle School, 725 Seventh St. in Columbus
Tickets: $10 in advance at millracetheatre.org and $15 at the door
Principal cast: Meg (played by Caitlin Smith); Leo Clark (Stephen Planalp); Jack Gable (Josh Hogan); Audrey (Sharon Andrews); Doc Myers (Jeff Bray); Duncan Wooley (Jonathan Reinhart); Butch Myers (James Kinsella); Florence Snider (Joyce Wire); Moose Frank (Ben Jackson).
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