Funky Little Theatre serves up a humdinger from the old folks’ home

Four Old Broads is a bawdy hoot from its quirky characters to surprising plot twists — a must-see with loads of laughs. Playing at Colorado Springs’ Funky Little Theatre Company through June 22, the snappy comedy resonates with this reviewer (a lady of a certain age) and will have younger folks giggling along as well.

Written by Leslie Kimbell and directed by Karen Kennedy, the setting is 1992 Georgia at the Magnolia Place Assisted Living Center. Retired burlesque queen Beatrice Shelton (Marty Rapp) is rallying her pals to breakout of the boredom of bingo and board games. “This place reeks of the reaper” she proclaims, suggesting they take to the seas for a Sassy Seniors Cruise. But her campaign is only the teaser to a deeper plotline.

The cast is a collective of talent in a script that is long on dialogue but done well by familiar and new faces to Funky. The actors are clearly aged-up to meet the storyline, but it is only a minor distraction.

Rapp’s flamboyance is balanced by her best friends’ prudishness. Fellow resident Eaddy Mae Clayton (Mary Sprunger-Froese) defaults to prayer frequently while interjecting advice not invited. Who doesn’t have someone like that in their world? Eaddy synchs perfectly with Rapp, the yin and yang from which comedy truly blossoms.

Rapp’s dance background adds welcome physicality to the story as she struts, and subtlety revives her past routines. BFF Eaddy can only pray for her redemption!

A mystery

Resident newcomer Imogene Fletcher (Leslie O’Neil) is slowly losing her memory. Affable and naïve, her part in the friend pool ignites and engages the plotline which moves from quirky friend interaction to a mystery come Act Two.

Completing the foursome is Maude Jenkins (Gayle Abe) obsessing over her funeral details while living vicariously through her soap opera. Maude is the odd duck out whom Beatrice begrudgingly brings into the fold. Abe is a seasoned actor, and it shows. Even with the fewest lines, she never breaks character. Her enthusiasm for entry into the Miss Magnolia Senior Citizen pageant is priceless.

The set is clean and stagnant, a commons area in the retirement community which facilitates brisk action with ease as actors float in and out of the scene. Set design is an accurate throw-back to ’90s décor, with clever backlighting that illuminates the glow of the TV screen.

A Funky staple who showcases his comic chops in this play, John Longo is one of the few male residents at Magnolia Place and portrays a retired Elvis impersonator. What a setup for humor! As Sam Smith he is also the quintessential womanizer who hits on newcomers and has his eyes set on Imogene.

As Beatrice tries to refocus the girls toward the cruise, they share a growing suspicion for the new nurse Pat Jones (Suzanne Lucas) who channels Nurse Ratched brilliantly. Flanked by Dayna Webb, who plays the young nursing assistant Ruby Sue, the duo breeze in and out of the scene with med cups and decrees of compliance or else.

This is community theatre at its best with performers flexing their acting muscle while other careers have sustained them. Four Old Broads has brought full houses to the Westside venue with a story that resonates with many. There is witty period banter, charming Southern idioms, bad wigs, and amusing stereotypes dropped into a clever storyline. Don’t miss this one.