Bay Street Players Present THE RITZ, Closes 5/8

Bay Street Players will present the final performance the hilarious farce The Ritz written by Terrence McNally on May 8, 2011. The play will run four weeks through May 8, 2011 at the historic State Theatre in downtown Eustis. The Ritz is generously sponsored by United Southern Bank.

This comedy, which contains adult situations, is set in the Ritz, a men's Manhattan bathhouse where Gaetano Proclus, a middle-aged and a very married man, tries to hide from his homicidal Mafioso brother-in-law Carmine Vespucci. What Proclo encounters there sets the scene for an old fashioned door slamming farce, albeit with towel and costume clad patrons, a bumbling detective and Googie Gomez, an over-the-top would be Jennifer Lopez looking for her big break.

Gaetano Proclo is played by Jim Meadows, who was the Father in last season's Bay Street Players' production of Come Blow Your Horn. Glen Howard, last seen as the son in Driving Miss Daisy, portrays his Mafioso brother-in-law. Michael Osowski, who was the Phantom in Bay Streets' February production of Phantom, is the inept detective. A favorite actress on the greater Orlando stages, Leesa Halstead plays Googie Gomez the singer who will do anything to a break. Kevin Jenness is the flamboyant regular at the Ritz. Kevin, the owner of Peddler's Wagon gift and home décor shop in down town Eustis, made his last appearance on this stage in The Full Monty.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8:00 p.m. Sunday matinee performances begin at 2:00 p.m. Also, there is one Wednesday performance on April 27 at 8:00p.m., and one Saturday matinee performance on May 7 at 2:00 p.m. Patrons attending the opening night production on April 15 are invited to a complimentary reception, sponsored by United Southern Bank, with the cast following the performance at Olivia's Coffeehouse & Bistro.

Tickets are $20.00 except on Wednesday or Thursday when they are $17.00. For reservations, call the Box Office at 352.357.7777 or visit www.baystreetplayers.org to purchase tickets online. Group discounts, gift certificates, student rates, and multi-pass tickets are available. Located at 109 N. Bay Street, Eustis, the Box Office hours are: 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. on Saturday performance days.

Bay Street Players is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit community theatre celebrating 36 seasons of live theatre in the historic 1922 State Theatre in downtown Eustis.

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