Women At Work

Comedy, drama clock in at Fort Smith Little Theatre

Courtesy photo Cassie Mikel and Mike Papcoda are Gregg and David Wilder Savage in “The Best of Everything,” a comedy-drama about women finding work-life balance.
Courtesy photo Cassie Mikel and Mike Papcoda are Gregg and David Wilder Savage in “The Best of Everything,” a comedy-drama about women finding work-life balance.

Those mourning the end of the '60s era TV series "Mad Men" can rejoice in the arrival of "The Best of Everything" at the Fort Smith Little Theatre.

The play, which is based on the 1958 novel by Rona Jaffe and was adapted only recently to a script for live theater, follows the lives of five women working at a publishing company in New York City. It opens Thursday.

FAQ

‘The Best of Everything’

WHEN — 7:30 p.m. May 28-30; 2 p.m. May 31; again June 3-7

WHERE — Fort Smith Little Theatre

COST — $25 for opening night; $10 for all other shows

INFO — 783-2966

Not unlike "Sex and the City," the women keep their conversations revolving on whether it's possible to have a career, a suitable man and the possibility of a family one day.

There's Caroline Bender, who has thrown herself into her work as a distraction for a recent breakup; April Morrison, who got a job in New York City to escape small-town life; Gregg Adams, who's temping at the company; Mary Agness Russo, who perpetually awaits a proposal while dishing the latest gossip; Brenda Zieleski, known as the schemer; and Amanda Farrow, the singular woman publisher of the firm who -- even though she has the one job all the other girls want -- has a reputation for being a grump.

"The play is about these women and the men who sort of run their work and lives," says Micki Voelkel, director of "The Best of Everything." "It's all in contrast to this older woman who's supposedly their role model, and they're all wondering, 'How do we be like her without being mean like her?' 'Can you have the job you love and the man you love?'"

The exploration of women in the workplace and the age-old battle of the work-life balance makes the production a still-relevant storyline.

Though the stage and the cast are both relatively small, the play will include dream sequences, fantasies and inner monologues that give the story a unique twist and add depth to the melodramatic office politics.

While one of the characters daydreams about catching a certain man's eye, they might bring down the lighting and dance a tango before returning to the typical dialogue and scene.

Having an exceptional cast helps bring the comedy-drama to life, Voelkel says.

Fans of FSLT will recognize the leading actress, Summer Ferguson, who has played a number of roles at the community theater, usually as the girl with a bit of a crazy flair or the resident comic relief. Others might pinpoint Van Buren speech teacher Jessica Fisher, who will take up the role of April, or Allison Claye, a student from Fort Smith who's playing Brenda Zieleski.

Joining them are a few new faces, Jacob Hiatt, an experienced actor who is new to the FSLT stage; Cassie Mikel, a UAFS alumna making her debut; and Meghan Partain, whose acting talent and humor is so natural, Voelkel says, fans would hardly know it's her first performance.

Voelkel has acted in and directed shows at the Fort Smith Little Theatre on and off since 1984, making the place and its crew her extended family, but she says this production has a special place in her heart.

"I've done a lot of community theater in my time," she says. "But I've never been with a cast who worked so hard or so fast on a production."

NAN What's Up on 05/22/2015

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