‘Becky’s New Car’ delivers laughs

Women tend to talk in code, Iola Community Theatre newcomer Alison Fees explains at the outset of “Becky’s New Car.”
For example, if she says she wants a new pair of shoes, what she really wants is a new job. Likewise, if a woman says she wants a new house, she actually wants a new husband.
And finally, any desire for a new car can be equated to wanting an entirely new life.
Such is the story of the eponymous Becky in the Iola Community Theatre production, which opens Friday at the ICT Warehouse. Tickets sell for $18.31 (tax included) for adults and $12.88 for students. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Nov. 12 and a matinee showing at 2 p.m. Nov. 13.
Fees, in her ICT debut, sparkles as the story’s protagonist, slogging her way through middle age, content (but not always happy) in her home, her marriage and her job as a receptionist and office manager at a local car dealership.
Becky’s husband (Jake Ard) makes a living as a roofer. Her son, a 26-year-old unemployed psychology major (Sam Terhune), is only too willing to diagnose each of his mother’s complaints about his inability to branch out on his own, or at least find a job.
Meanwhile, it’s at work Becky’s path crosses with that of Walter Flood, a grief-stricken and somewhat oafish multimillionaire widower in desperate need of eight cars to give away as gifts.
Through a series of oblivious conversations, Walter incorrectly assumes Becky, too, has recently lost her husband.
Becky fruitlessly tries to explain, to no avail, that her husband is still alive and well, which leads to the play’s central conflict.
Walter is smitten with the plain-spoken and spunky Becky, unlike most any of the women he meets daily in society’s upper echelons, and invites her to a weekend soiree at his estate.
How far will Becky take to her new suitor? Surely, it’s foolhardy to even consider such an invitation, she assures the audience.
So why can’t she tell him no?
Fees is nothing less than captivating as the story’s protagonist, equally funny, profound and honest (most of the time) as she explores her own shortcomings and hopes as new opportunities arise.
Another newcomer, Appleton, shines as the earnestly clumsy Walter.
A strong cast of supporting players fills the playbill.
Terhune as Becky’s son will leave many a mother shaking her head at his rationalizations of his prototypical slacker behavior.
And as Becky’s husband, Joe, Ard parlays a character whose emotions reach far deeper than most of the audience initially imagines.
Gary Reeder is brilliant as Steve, a car salesman and Becky’s coworker, who also recently lost his wife, in a recent hiking accident. Steve, to the full discomfort of his friends and coworkers, is only too willing to share his emotional pain, often to outrageous lengths. He’ll have the audience rolling in one memorable scene in which he recounts meeting a young child and his dog.
Two other newcomers, Amelia Russ and Jessica Oswald, take full advantage of their limited stage time. Russ is Walter’s daughter, who later unwittingly adds another layer of comedy to the story’s plot. Oswald is the openly shallow and gold-digging Ginger, a socialite who hopes to win the hand of Walter (or any other potential Sugar Daddy along the way.)
Directing the “dramedy” is local stage veteran Angie Whitmore. Kate Terhune serves as stage manager.
They’re tasked with ensuring “Becky’s New Car” remains a joyride from start to finish.
The audience is encouraged to arrive an hour early, at 6:30 p.m., for Friday’s premiere, in order to check out recent renovations to the ICT Warehouse at 203 S. Jefferson Ave.