HOLLYWOOD CONFIDENTIAL Plays Barter Stage II, Beg. Tonight

Get ready to laugh until your sides split during Barter Theatre's world premiere comedy, "Hollywood Confidential." Penned by the playwriting team of the late V. Cate and her son Duke Ernsberger who also wrote "Dracula Bites," "Elvis Has Left the Building" and "A Visit from Scarface," it's the kind of play that will have you rolling in the aisles. "Hollywood Confidential" begins tonight, June 5 at Barter Stage II.

It's 1932. Actor Larry Lancaster (Sean Campos) is having a bad day. And it's about to get worse. See, Lancaster was just trying to do a good deed by helping an intoxicated actress named Millie Morgan make it safely through the night. But no good deed goes unpunished. Despite being a complete gentleman, Lancaster finds himself in a tough predicament when Millie steals his clothes and vanishes-leaving him with only her robe to wear!

Meanwhile, his agent Max (Rick McVey) has promised that Millie will star in a Russian film funded by none other than Stalin himself (yes, the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin), and that it is to be directed by the oversexed, blind-as-a-bat Russian director Vladimer Gorsky (Eugene Wolf) and his very persistent assistant Olga (Abbey C. Elliott). Without Millie, Max is going to be in deep trouble with the Russians.

Meanwhile, the gossip rag Hollywood Confidential is on the hunt for the next big juicy scandal, and Lancaster is in the crosshairs.

As the pressure mounts for both Max and Lancaster, things start to spiral out of control. The Russian director's myopic vision assumes Lancaster, dressed in Millie's robe, to be his star actress!

"McVey and Campos have a delightful scene where they deliver witty banter for twenty-five minutes straight that is truly hysterical. And add Eugene Wolf as a passionate and oversexed Russian director and you get comedy magic," said Rose.

The play also delivers outrageous physical comedy. Audiences loved Sean Campos and Parris Cromer (Maria-Millie's Mexican maid) in 2013 s "Unnecessary Farce," and in this play the two have teamed up again for a hysterical twelve-minute scene involving a vacuum cleaner, during which there is not a single line of dialogue is spoken. It's brilliant physical comedy on the level of the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy.

Director Richard Rose is already a huge fan of the new play. "I love this play. I laughed out loud when I read it, which is very rare for me. We laughed a lot while we rehearsed it. And I laugh every time I watch it," said Rose.

"Hollywood Confidential" is made possible in part by corporate sponsor TruPoint Bank and media sponsors Smyth County New and Messenger, Charter Media and Out 'N About Magazine. Barter Theatre is funded in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

For show times and reservations for "Hollywood Confidential" and other shows playing this summer visit BarterTheatre.com or call (276) 628-3991.

BARTER THEATRE. With its unique beginnings during the Great Depression, Barter Theatre, one of this nation's oldest professional non-profit theatres, is located in beautiful historic Abingdon, Virginia. Barter Theatre is a theatre of firsts: one of this nation's first professional regional theatres, the first professional theatre to be designated a state theatre - The State Theatre of Virginia and more. Today, Barter offers a variety of musicals, classics, comedies, dramas and new southern and Appalachian plays performed February - December yearly on two stages: Barter Theatre and Barter Stage II. Barter Theatre continues to be one of the nation's most vibrant and exciting professional theatre experiences.

Pictured: (top to bottom) Rick McVey, Abbey C. Elliott, Sean Campos and Eugene Wolf in Barter Theatre's world premiere comedy, "Hollywood Confidential."