SUBMITTED IMAGE Marshalltown Community Theatre (MCT) is bringing the comedy, “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” to the Black Box Theater at the BA Niblock MCSD Orpheum Welcome Center. The first show is tonight at 7 p.m., followed by performances on April 24 and April 25.

A comedy, “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” will have its Marshalltown Community Theatre (MCT) debut on Friday.

Performed in the Black Box at the BA Niblock MCSD Orpheum Welcome Center, the play tells the story of five bridesmaids in the South. Director Rick Gooding said some of the bridesmaids are unsure as to why they are in the wedding to begin with, as they have not seen the bride for a while. They are all hiding out in a bedroom upstairs while the wedding reception is ongoing.

“It’s current, and all of the women are such different characters, different personalities,” he said. “To see them all together in this situation is interesting. I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition of all these women. You come to understand their personalities and their connections to the bride and each other. It’s just an interesting play about women.”

One reason Gooding wanted to bring this production to Marshalltown is that the cast is composed of women. Whenever MCT holds auditions for shows, the majority of people who try out are women, he said.

“When I do a show, I look for something that has a lot, or all, women in it, because I know there will be people trying out, and that’s what happened with this one,” Gooding said. “For this one, I used all but two people.”

Since announcing Five Women as part of the theater season, he said the community has been excited about it because it is a comedy (albeit dark), and they want to see a full-fledged play at the Orpheum.

Since the 2020 derecho, many of the MCT productions have been at Miller Middle School. However, with the Reimagine Miller project starting, that stage is not available to use. The Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) now owns the Orpheum, and Gooding said district officials were nice enough to open it up for the theater group.

Holding the play in the Black Box has been interesting, he added.

“Trying to scale the set down a one-set show to fit that area and then to find furnishings we need for that that we didn’t have in our storage,” Gooding said. “It’s been a challenge.”

Not only was the set a challenge, but the costuming, as well. They had to find one dress in five different sizes. They finally found one on the JCPenney website.

“We all decided on this one,” he said. “Then we had to find shoes to go with them and went online and found hot pink shoes to go with the dresses. Then we had to find headpieces, because they refer to the headpieces, about how awful they are. They’re not supposed to look nice, and they can’t figure out why the bride put them in this outfit.”

The headpieces are “nasty,” Gooding said, definitely not as nice as the elaborate headpieces worn by royals at weddings, or by women at the Kentucky Derby.

“It’s like a frame, but with netting and feathers,” he said, laughing. “It’s fun and they have to wear them through the whole show. Some of them take it off because they can’t stand it.”

The cast includes:

Gray Carlton as Meredith Marlowe, the bride’s younger, sarcastic sister;

Cortney Zajie as Georgeanna Darby, the bride’s ugly sidekick from high school and college;

Lisa Naig as Trisha, a former friend with a bad reputation;

TJ Lada as Frances, the naive and religious cousin;

Lydia Lillibridge as Mindy McClure, the groom’s sister and;

Scott Lindborg as the groom, who is not seen in the play.

Gooding really likes how the Mindy McClure character eats constantly. She goes down to the reception to get a plate of food, which she consumes while talking with the other bridesmaids.

“There’s a lot of funny dialogue between the five bridesmaids,” he said.

The play is not completely lighthearted. Gooding said there are poignant moments, such as when a character reveals past abuse she endured as a child.

He added there was an extreme last minute cast member addition, but the actress has “fallen” into the role.

Gooding added there is some adult dialogue and moments, so MCT is requesting no one younger than 18 attend.

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

What: Five Women Wearing the Same Dress

Location: Orpheum Black Box

Address: 220 E. Main St.

Hours: 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday; 7 p.m., April 24 and April 25

Tickets: $15 at the door

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.