"Rumors" - by Neil Simon - Quannapowitt Players (Reading, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: The CAST of Neil Simon's "RUMORS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through October 17, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“I run downstairs looking for Myra, notice the basement door is open and afraid the strange-looking kid will come back, so I lock the door, not knowing Myra is still down there.”
- ("Lenny") / Neil Simon
The Quannapowitt Players
Presents Neil Simon's
"RUMORS"
Written by Neil Simon
Directed by Glenn Wakeley
Producer Angela Courtney Rossi
Assistant Director Gordon Ellis
Cast Includes: Lauren Casey as "Chris Gorman," Bob Waters as "Ken Gorman," Mark Nichols as "Lenny Ganz," Susan Wentworth Austin as "Claire Ganz," Heather Price as "Cookie Cusack," Michael Govang as "Ernie Cusack," Allison Rollings as "Cassie Cooper," Nathan Prosperi as "Glenn Cooper," Damien LaCount as "Officer Welch," Anetta LaCount as "Officer Pudney."
Additional Creative Team:
Stage Manager - Sherri Wilcauskas; Set Design - Nick Gould; Lighting Design - Bruce Pennypacker; Sound Design - Chris Rose; Costume Design - Jennifer Hurley; Hair and Makeup Design - Phyllis Uloth; Properties Design - Kim Costigan; Costume Assistant - Tricia Brown; Scenic Artist - Maureen C Bailey.
Performances:
October 2, 2026 through October 17, 2026
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
QUANNAPOWITT PLAYERS, 55 Hopkins Street, Reading, MA. 01867-3917
TICKETS:
Contact QUANNAPOWITT PLAYERS at # 781-942-2212 or email at boxoffice@qptheater.com www.qptheater.com
BUY TICKETS
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(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)
Quannapowitt Players (QP) treats Reading with a first-aid kit loaded with laughs for Neil Simon’s side-splittingly funny "RUMORS."
This masterpiece of farce is very well staged and performed courtesy of its fine ensemble QP cast under the guidance of stage director Glenn Wakeley.
Simon’s "RUMORS" is a masterclass from perhaps the greatest of comic educators of modern-day intelligent comedic play construction.
The humor is smart and instantly fires off like a rocket (or a bullet) with witty retorts to fervent one-liners to hysterical responses articulated lightning fast.
When it gets to that point, as you find yourself laughing at one joke, you will probably miss the next joke because you will still be laughing once it strikes.
"RUMORS" has long been considered one of Simon’s most difficult shows because the material is structured in such a way that it requires great dexterity and physicality by its cast…which becomes painfully obvious and more apparent as the play progresses.
"RUMORS" opened on Broadway in 1988 and ran for 535 performances and eight previews.
The original production was directed by Gene Saks, the original cast included icons such as Christine Baranski, Ken Howard, Joyce Van Patten, Ron Leibman and his wife, the remarkable Jessica Walter.
Baranski would go on to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play while Joseph G. Aulisi was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design.
Culminating in havoc, "RUMORS" comes with mistaken identities, spectacular kitchen catastrophes, the plummeting of a "valuable" quartz crystal into a toilet, assorted stumbles, falls, door slams, gunshots, burns, rashes, sudden hearing loss...and, of course, oven mitts and bandages.
As keenly staged by Wakeley, this QP ensemble has a firm grasp of the above and does well making the audience aware of the utter foolishness and irrationality of the entire plot.
What begins as a celebratory event quickly turns into an evening of mass recrimination and self-preservation for four couples.
As the story of "RUMORS" unfolds…or unravels…it is May (not exactly sure what year it is but let’s go with 1987) and we are inside a posh Victorian mansion located outside of New York City, specifically in Sneden’s Landing, New York.
The (unseen) Deputy Mayor of New York, “Charlie Brock,” and his (equally unseen) wife, “Myra,” are celebrating their 10th Wedding Anniversary and are holding a swank gathering of close friends.
The QP single set design for Charlie and Myra’s lavish mansion effectively utilizes the entire QP stage space, reflecting the lavish lifestyle of the couple.
However, the elimination of a front entrance door also resulted in the omission of a couple of scripted and usually funny bits of business.
Ken Gorman (Bob Waters) and his wife, Chris (Lauren Casey) are the first of several couples due to arrive at the house.
When Ken and Chris arrive, they find the house abandoned until they find Charlie, Ken’s client, the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Waters does a fine job in the role as frustrated lawyer Ken, anxious over his inability to try and control the immediate situation…which soon devolves into chaos.
Casey gives a dynamic and articulate performance in the role of recently reformed smoker Chris, who vacillates between frustration and panic, further heightening Ken’s own anxiety…in addition to her own.
(Photo: The CAST of Neil Simon's "RUMORS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through October 17, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
Chris begins to call for help, specifically to a “Dr. Dudley” (and remember that name as it will come up again) Ken stops her as it seems Charlie is still alive.
Please keep in mind this was back before Urgent Care and when certain “private physicians” were at the beck and call of the rich elite.
Enter Lenny (Mark Nichols) and Claire Ganz (Susan Wentworth Austin), also friends of the Brocks.
Lenny and Claire have just been in a car accident and, worried he might have injured his neck, Lenny also calls the aforementioned “Dr. Dudley.”
The above actually all serves more as “prologue” for the show because this is when the "RUMORS" really begin to fly.
It isn’t long after the initial discovery of Charlie that people begin to try and cover up for both Charlie and Myra, and this leads to a blossoming effect where everybody begins inventing lies to help conceal the truth of other lies.
Confused? Good. It gets worse…or better…or at least funnier, depending on your point of view and ability to accept the preposterous nature of farce.
At the heart of the matter is the suspicion that Charlie and Myra were each engaged in some extramarital hanky-panky. Austin brings expert delivered sarcastic retorts as Claire, while Nichols expertly delivers every line as Lenny.
The "Lenny" character comes with a high degree of difficulty as it is one that hits the stage from the outset like a freight train and rarely has a subdued moment.
While still absolutely still an ensemble piece, one cannot have an effective staging of "RUMORS" without a performer able to mine the part of Lenny and QP struck comedy gold with Nichols in the role.
Not only has Lenny been assigned some of Simon's funniest lines, but he also executes much of the more arduous physical comedy and has a ten-minute monologue at the end of the play.
Next couple to arrive is Ernie Cusack (Michael Govang), a psychologist, and his eccentric wife Cookie (Heather Price). Although "eccentric" well describes "Cookie," it might just as easily apply to everyone currently under this Deputy Mayor's roof.
At first, Ernie and Cookie are kept in the dark on what has transpired before their arrival.
Price is entertaining as Cookie, another character requiring physical comedy stemming from Cookie’s recurring back issues.
Govang is equally effective as Ernie, also assigned much of the physical comedy since Ernie tries to maintain some semblance of composure once he and Cookie are advised of the Deputy Mayor's "situation."
(Photo: Mark Nichols as "Lenny Ganz" playing telephone tag with Bob Waters as "Ken Gorman" in a scene from Neil Simon's "RUMORS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through October 17, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
More mayhem ensues just before the arrival of the final couple invited to the party.
Glenn Cooper (Nathan Prosperi) is a politician running for State Senate who enters this odd “house of pain” with his argumentative wife, Cassie (Allison Rollings).
Rollings and Prosperi give a combined fine portrayal of the distrustful, embittered couple who are in dire straits even before arriving at this fateful gathering.
In fact, especially from the performance by Rollings, we get the sense that the Cooper relationship is probably the one most likely to exit this pitiful party unresolved and in more unstable a condition than when the couple walked through the (aforementioned unseen) front door.
For whatever reason, an effort is made to conceal and protect Charlie and Myra’s personal dilemma(s) from everybody else in the house.
This leads to a gamesmanship of recriminations and, once the "blame game" begins, everybody suddenly pretends as if they only just arrived and know nothing while blaming everybody else for what transpired just before they arrived this evening.
(Photo: Bob Waters as "Ken Gorman," Nathan Prosperi as "Glenn Cooper," Mark Nichols as "Lenny Ganz," and Michael Govang as "Ernie Cusack" in a game of chance moment from Neil Simon's "RUMORS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through October 17, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
Then, after a mysterious caller makes matters worse, the police subsequently show up at the party.
As Officers Welch (Damien LaCount) and Pudney (Anetta LaCount) begin to question everyone, the amassing of lie upon lie begins to get the officers suspicious of what is going on at the party.
As Welch, Damien LaCount delivers acerbic recriminations and accusations with a no-nonsense wit, injecting a much-needed dose of fear into all the morally questionable houseguests.
Damien LaCount gives probably one of the best performances I have ever seen of the stereotypical Neil Simon veteran “cop” character of Welch (Think “Murray” from Simon’s “Odd Couple”…only not so nice).
As Officer Pudney, Anetta LaCount is fine but has not been given much by Simon to work with by way of the Pudney character (a character one can almost sense that, when writing, Simon would either have loved to develop or remove entirely).
The build-up of intensity, as lies are elicited to help cover up previous lies, is a true farcical delight.
The turmoil leads to one of the most brilliantly constructed comedic monologues ever written for the finale of a play and, as delivered by Nichols as Lenny, it is both exhilarating and exhausting to watch.
With the notable exception of Cookie’s specifically required eccentric attire, all the costuming in "RUMORS" by/for the QP cast was well in keeping with their respective characters.
(Photo: Mark Nichols as "Lenny Ganz" in a scene from Neil Simon's "RUMORS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through October 17, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
As for these four couples:
For those seeking it, don’t bother looking for any “woke representation” here…there isn't any.
The married couples in "RUMORS" (including the unseen “Charlie” and “Myra”) all showcase well their upper-middle-class Caucasian privilege.
As written by the legendary Simon, it is hard to feel empathy for this pompous, self-serving, self-preserving, selfish bunch of wealthy miscreants...and yet, because they make us laugh so incredibly hard for two and a half hours, we do.
Maybe that was Simon’s intent or perhaps it is just how time now reflects upon these people of a different self-absorbed era.
In either case, the ego-pummeling they all wind up receiving as a result of trying to quash unfounded "RUMORS" seems - at least by today standards – to be exactly what they deserve.
In the end, the cohesive QP cast proves that "RUMORS" still stands as one of Neil Simon’s most brilliantly comical works.
(Photo: The CAST of Neil Simon's "RUMORS" now playing at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. through October 17, 2026. Photo Credit: Jonathan Sachs)
Gossip around the water cooler has it that Neil Simon's "RUMORS" continues at Quannapowitt Players in Reading, MA. until October 17th, 2026.
Coming up in January for Quannapowitt Players will be Tracy Lett's "THE MINUTES" beginning January 15th and ticking along until closing January 30th, 2027.
For tickets and information, contact the Quannapowitt Players at # 781-942-2212 or email boxoffice@qptheater.com
BUY TICKETS
Approximately two hours, 20 minutes with one intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
In Neil Simon's "RUMORS" - At a party for their 10th anniversary, the deputy mayor of New York and his wife have gone missing.
As the bewildered guests try to cover up the situation, misunderstandings multiply and the rumors fly faster than the truth. Neil Simon's farce delivers nonstop laughs through sharp dialogue and escalating chaos.
Come enjoy a hilarious evening of madcap comedy - because sometimes the cover-up is way more entertaining than the crime.
ABOUT THE QUANNAPOWITT PLAYERS
THE QUANNAPOWITT PLAYERS has provided quality community theater for over 85 years in a converted historic 1853 Little Red School House in the town of Reading, Massachusetts. The delightful black-box performance space, with intimate seating for 150 patrons, has full handicap accessibility and parking.
55 Hopkins Street
Reading, MA. 01867-3917
# 781-942-2212
