Maude and John realize they want to adopt the baby they were charged with bringing to Scotland for adoption. The judge listens to their plea. Photo by Donna Manz.
If there are hallmarks of a typical “romantic comedy,” they may include a couple falling in love in spite of themselves, and, maybe, a bit of “misdirection,” in which something that was predicted to happen, does not. There’s a happy ending to the quagmire. The Vienna Theatre Company’s production of award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig’s “Be My Baby” embraces the common attributes of the genre. And, it’s fun to be drawn into the story arc.
“I’ve worked a couple of Ludwig’s plays and I like his quick pace and interesting characters,” said “Be My Baby” director, Suzanne Maloney. Maloney is joined in this production by her sister, Allison Shelby, both daughters of Vienna Theatre Company founder Norm Chaudet of Vienna. Shelby plays the female lead, Maude from London.
“We pretty-much grew up with the theatre here,” said Shelby. She and Maloney watched rehearsals as kids, “spellbound,” she said.
WHEN A YOUNG COUPLE marries and suffer a miscarriage in Scotland, they send close relatives to San Francisco to pick up the baby they plan on adopting. The older relatives, a Scotsman John and an Englishwoman Maude, each of whom irritates the other, get stuck in San Francisco together and must join forces to care for the newborn in their charge. They learn there is more to each other than they imagined. “They don’t like each other initially, but, they grow to love each other and the baby,” said Maloney.
Male lead John Barclay Burns lives in Arlington. Several crew members come from Vienna as do Shelby, Maloney and Eric Storck. Storck has been engaged in theatre since childhood.
“I don’t have a favorite character,” said Storck, who plays seven characters, but not the male lead — plus an additional three voice-overs. To keep 10 voices sounding different from one another, Storck employs any of three techniques — accent, pitch and physicality. He moves from his role as a Scottish parson to a trendy American waiter. In between, he’s a judge, a gardener, a bellhop, a maitré d, and a not-trendy waiter.
AS THE MAIN CHARACTERS inch closer to a tender relationship, their affection for the baby takes them on a mission to make the baby their own. Matron Maude is a bit uptight but loosens up in the presence of her traveling companion and the baby they protect and care for.
“[Maude] is one of the nicest characters I’ve played in a long time,” said Shelby. “She’s very sweet.”
The premiere of the play in 2005 starred veteran Hollywood and stage actors Hal Holbrook and Dixie Carter.
Ken Ludwig’s plays have been presented on Broadway and London’s West End. He has won two Laurence Olivier Awards, three Tony Award nominations, two Helen Hayes Awards and the Edgar Award. And, he lives in Washington, D.C.
The quick pace of the play presented a few challenges in execution.
“The big challenge with this one is, because the play moves so quickly, you have to be creative to get the actors back out there and the stage re-set,” Maloney said. The costumes are occasionally “layered” for quicker changes. “We’ve made it work.”