Cruise antics splash onto the stage in new show

The Sun City Community Theatre wants to take people on a cruise ---- and they don't even have to leave their seats.

The group plans to present the original musical production "The Happy Senior Cruise" at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Starbright Theatre, 2215 Thomas W. Ryan Blvd.

The group has 38 members and normally puts on a variety show of separate musical acts. This year, it is changing things up by presenting a musical comedy written by Martha Olsen, who also directs it.

President Joel Rosenfeld said the majority of the board thought it might be nice to go in a different direction.

"Just to change it up," he said. "Martha had directed components of last year's show. They were production numbers from 'Guys and Dolls' and from 'South Pacific.' That's her forte. She's a very talented pianist and a very talented musician. She came up with the idea to do the show about a senior cruise."

Olsen said writing the musical was not hard. She was a music teacher for years and put on many productions, some of which she wrote. Last year, she worked with the community theater group on its musical numbers, which gave her insight as to the stage presence of the members.

"So, when I wrote this, I had the cast in mind when I put the characters in," she said. "... Some of them have a little romance going on. Some of them are always complaining. And we have a little mystery with the theft of jewels, so we have to solve that."

One of the women will play a Frank Marino-type character. Marino is a female impersonator whose show "Divas Las Vegas" is at the Imperial Palace.

"But we called the character 'Franz' Marino," Olsen said. "So it's a lady doing a man, doing a lady. So that's kind of different."

To complement the singing, there's dancing and comical dialogue. The seven songs in the show forward the storyline and use simple rhyming. One song includes the women lamenting the antics of males on the cruise. Sample lyrics: "They come on handsome. They come on strong. They wine and dine you, then do you wrong."

One might say it's "The Love Boat" as a musical. "The Love Boat" was an hourlong television show. "The Happy Senior Cruise" runs just under two hours, including a 10-minute intermission.

The show has gone through many tweaks, some late in the game and brought about because three members had circumstances that forced them to drop out. One of them was the female lead, who had to break from the show in mid-July. It caused some reshuffling at rehearsals.

This day, the cast was there for an evening run-through. Member Hariet Miller held the 50-page script and sat in the front row giving prompts when people forgot lines. Miller is an actress who appeared on "Seinfeld."

With so many people on stage, there was some good-natured confusion about when to jump in with their lines. One was a scene where the cruise activities director was leading an exercise class that used stretch bands. During the discussion of who spoke next, two of the male actors snapped the bands at each other, like school-age children.

There was also blocking being rehearsed this night, which added to the confusion. Good-hearted ribbing accompanied the missed marks.

"What I like about it is the camaraderie; we're like a family here," said Elaine Ruda, the group's past president, who plays a flirtatious cruise nurse. "I think that's a big part, that and we are hams at heart."

Ruda said she hoped the name of the show didn't cause confusion.

"We did one several years ago; it was called 'Sun City Boulevard,' " she said. "(Advertising fliers) said, 'We're taking this bus tour for $8.' And people called and said, 'I want to take a bus trip for $8.' I said to Joel, 'Just wait, people will call and think it's a cruise.' "

Tickets are $8. For tickets, call Ruda at 838-8349, Rosenfeld at 257-1810 or Sy London at 869-6522.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.