The Angel Next Door

  • written by Paul Slade Smith
  • adapted from Play at the Castle by Ferenc Molnar
  • directed by David Ellenstein
  • set design by Marty Burnett
  • costume design by Elisa Benzoni
  • lighting design by Matthew Novotny
  • sound design by Ian Scot
  • props design by Cindy Rumley
  • hair & wig design by Peter Herman
  • production stage management by Vernon Willet
Adult Language
Sexual Situations and Themes
Violence
Fun for the Whole Family

Description

A hilarious escape to the 1940's!

It is 1948 and an unlikely group of characters has assembled in a Newport mansion. An unexpected development threatens to doom a budding romance and one woman is destined to make things right – no matter what madcap antics she must pursue! Brace yourself for a perfect storm of comedic chaos and get swept away by irresistible charm and rapid-fire banter. This delightful escape promises a non-stop rollercoaster of mirth, leaving you breathless with laughter. 

Reviews

"Spend time at this show and you’ll appreciate how well everything...operates so perfectly well...'LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE' is again on display in Laguna."
 - Orange County Register

"Recommended!  “It's great fun...A DELIGHTFULLY ZANY SCREWBALL COMEDY...Nails the qualities of a classic comedy…Purely entertainment...The banter is rapid-fire and the scenes are at breakneck speed, which is fine for a farce — and this one delivers in spades. Director David Ellenstein’s slick, solid production keeps the action moving and the characters fully engaged.” 
 - Stage Raw

"It's a stunning little symphony of shtick performed to exhausting perfection on a precisely coordinated par with anything from comedy’s golden age." 
 - The Show Report

"Bubbling over with non-stop laughs, merriment, glamour, and high-spirited high-jinks."
 - Broadway World

"If you haven't been to the Laguna Playhouse lately, you haven't been to the Playhouse." 
- Stu News Laguna

Related Content

Discover Magazines - interview with playwright Paul Slade Smith (starts on page 10)

Meet Paul Slade Smith, Writer of The Angel Next Door

 

 

Thomas Edward Daugherty
Victor Pratt
Biography »
Thomas Edward Daugherty

THOMAS EDWARD DAUGHERTY (Victor Pratt) is thrilled to make his Laguna Playhouse debut. San Diego Theatre: Quinn Carney in The Ferryman at New Village Arts Theatre. Other theatre: National Tours (Ragtime, Showboat); Kennedy Center (Bounce); Goodman Theatre (All’s Well That Ends Well, Bounce); Chicago Shakespeare (As You Like It, Winter’s Tale, Troilus & Cressida); Drury Lane Oakbrook (1776, The Foreigner, A Chorus Line, Big); Marriott Lincolnshire (Houdini, the Musical); Apple Tree Theatre (Old Wicked Songs, The Dying Gaul); New American Theatre (Picasso at Lapin Agile); Montana’s Shakespeare in the Parks (Macbeth, The Country Wife). Training: BFA Musical Theatre, University of Michigan — Go Blue! Tom’s day job: Employment law attorney at Klinedinst PC. Much love and many thanks to Jacquelyn Ritz (a North Coast Rep regular), Nick, Zach, and Caroline for making this possible.

Erin Noel Grennan
Olga Molnar
Biography »
Erin Noel Grennan

ERIN NOEL GRENNAN (Olga Molnar) is grateful to make her Laguna Playhouse debut. Regional credits include: Reckless and Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help at Cincinnati Playhouse; The Outsider (world premiere) at Paper Mill Playhouse; Unnecessary Farce (world premiere), and Wit at Boarshead Theatre; Timon of Athens at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; A Moon for the Misbegotten, Blithe Spirit, The Taming of the Shrew at First Folio; A Christmas Carol at Geva; A Flea in Her Ear, The Foreigner, The Man Who Came to Dinner at Drury Lane; Noises Off at Totem Pole Playhouse; seven seasons with Peninsula Players Theatre, including Angel Street, Sunday in the Park with George, The Game’s Afoot, the world premieres of Making God Laugh and The Tin Woman; and four productions with The Gaiety Theatre in Ireland. TV credits include “The Other Two,” “Dr. Death,,” “Bull,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Blue Bloods,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” and roughly umpteen commercials. erinnoelgrennan.com.

Elinor Gunn
Margot Bell
Biography »
Elinor Gunn

ELINOR GUNN (Margot Bell) is honored to make her Laguna Playhouse debut. Notably, she has worked with Sir Alan Ayckbourn in the American premiere of Sugar Daddies at ACT Theatre in Seattle, and Paula Vogel in the inaugural Hearst Theater Lab Initiative Distinguished Visiting Playwright-in-Residence at UCLA. She just recently closed a sold-out run of The Tempest as Ariel at Antaeus Theatre in LA. Favorite roles include Kyra in Skylight at ACT, Michelle in For the Love Of at the Kirk Douglas, and Raina in Arms and the Man at The Jewel Theatre. Her most recent television credits include guest starring on “9-1-1” (Fox) and “Legacies” (CW), co-starring on “The Dropout” and “Bust Down,” and appearing in several national commercials.

Taubert Nadalini
Oliver Adams
Biography »
Taubert Nadalini

TAUBERT NADALINI (Oliver Adams) is a Los Angeles and New York-based actor, director, and composer. TV: “This is Us” (NBC), “Sterling” (HBO), “Deviants” (Showtime). Stage: VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE (Pacific Resident Theatre), MAMMA MIA (McCoy-Rigby), THE LION IN WINTER (Laguna Playhouse), BRIGHT STAR (Musical Theatre West), FROZEN (Disneyland), EVITA (Palos Verdes), SHOOTING STAR! (Hudson Theatre), BRONCO BILLY (Skylight Theatre). He recently received a Robby Award for Best Actor in a Comedy for his performance in THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE at International City Theatre, and, earlier this year, he directed COCK as part of The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s inaugural theatre season. Taubert trained at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and USC. He’s represented by Heidi Rotbart Management and Dennis Sevier at The House of Reps. He also has two Boston terriers and three younger brothers, who collectively serve as his comedic inspiration.

James Newcomb
Arthur Sanders
Biography »
James Newcomb

JAMES NEWCOMB (Arthur Sanders) North Coast Rep: The Homecoming, Christmas Carol (as told by one man who cares — Streamed), How the Other Half Loves. The Old Globe: Da Vinci in The Note Books of Leonardo Da Vinci, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus, and Much Ado About Nothing. San Diego Rep: Honky, Zoot Suit, Brooklyn Boy, and The Illusion. Cygnet Theatre: Henry in Present Laughter, Roy Cohn in Angels in America (Craig Noel award). Other Theatre: Oregon Shakespeare Festival (14 Seasons), Denver Center Theatre (9 Seasons), The Public Theatre, B.A.M. Utah Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare & Company (founding member), The Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare, Berkeley Rep, South Coast Rep, Portland Center Stage, Missouri Rep, Arizona Theatre Co., and Geva Theatre. Representative Roles: Oxford Society Award for Richard III (O.S.F.), Drama Log Award for Touchstone, (S.S.C.), Coriolanus, Iago, Bottom, Feste, and The Duke in Measure for Measure. T.V.: “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” “Honky” (P.B.S.), and “I Want to Keep My Baby” (CBS). Film: “Lone Wolf.” Directing: Much Ado, Midsummer (USD Graduate Program), Lone Star, True West, and Found a Peanut (National Theatre Conservatory). Continuing Lecturer: U.C.S.D. Graduate Theatre Program.

Barbara E. Robertson
Charlotte Sanders
Biography »
Barbara E. Robertson

BARBARA E. ROBERTSON (Charlotte Sanders) is very happy to be making her Laguna Playhouse debut, and working again with Paul Slade Smith (Wicked) and Erin Noel Grennan (The Last Night of Ballyhoo). She can be seen in “Somebody Somewhere”; “Working Man”; “LOL,” “Freelancers Anonymous,” Robert Altman’s “The Company” and David Lynch’s “The Straight Story.” She’s received two dozen awards and nominations for her work in theatre productions as diverse as: Queen of the Mist (Firebrand); A Doll’s House Part Two (Steppenwolf); Murder on the Orient Express (Milwaukee Rep); The Detective’s Wife (Writers’); Who‘s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Court); life sucks (Lookingglass); A Little Night Music; The Tempest; Hamlet (Chicago Shakespeare); The Goat, Or Who is Sylvia; Pal Joey, House, Garden and Hollywood Arms (Goodman); Kabuki Medea (Kennedy Center); Other Than Honorable (Geva); and the first National Tour of Angels in America I & II. She’s a proud member of AEA, SAG/AFTRA and teacher at Columbia College.

Media

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