JEHS to perform "Enter Laughing" on Nov. 18 & 19

JEHS drama department students in grades 9 through 12 will perform the comedy “Enter Laughing,” by Joseph Stein on November 18 and 19.

The story takes place in the late 1930s and focuses on a fun-loving Jewish high school student from New York named David Kolowitz. David works as a delivery boy in a sewing machine factory but really aspires to be an actor on stage.

His practical-minded boss, Mr. Foreman, wants to take David under his wing and train him to eventually take over the business. Meanwhile, David’s protective parents want him to go to college to become a pharmacist, which makes his girlfriend, Wanda, very happy.

But David has other ideas; even though he has no experience, he dreams of pursuing a life in the theatre. At his friend Marvin’s suggestion, David tries out for a part in a play, and somehow manages to get cast.

Despite his obvious lack of talent, he is soon performing as the leading man in a B-rated theatrical company under an eccentric artistic director and his resident leading lady daughter. From David’s first rehearsal to his first live performance, everything that can go wrong, does so.

The show is loosely based on the true life experiences of Carl Reiner, who wrote the novel of the same title. This play is about Carl Reiner’s “baptism by fire” into an acting career, and ultimately into his life as a comedian, director, screenwriter and novelist.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18 and Saturday, Nov. 19 in the high school auditorium.

General admission tickets are $7 and will be available at the door.

CAST LIST (in order of appearance)

Mr. Foreman - Eric Beasley
David - Cooper Childres
Marvin - Aidan Clark
Miss B. - Laney Green
Pike - Alyssa Loveland
Don Baxter - Charles Harding
Don Darwin - Mathieu Piper
Marlowe - Aydan Piper
Angela - Kyra Dominick
Mother - Emma Donvito
Father - Matt Hubbard
Wanda - Bridget Whiting
Restaurant Patrons - Lilyana Stevenson, Jaqualyn Peters, Charles Harding, Raiden Yale