When Salisbury's Piedmont Players Theatre offers the award-winning comedy, "One Man, Two Guvnors," later this month it will be with Catawba College President Brien Lewis playing the lead.
Lewis auditioned to play the show's leading man, Francis Henshall, and was cast in it by PPT's resident director/designer Reid Leonard '76.
"I was intrigued with the part of Francis, but I would have been delighted to take on any of the play's roles," Lewis confided. "I guess Reid found what he was looking for in this particular character and I'll do my best to live up to the confidence he's placed in me to play Francis."
Lewis has some theatre performance in his background. He said that he had played roles in high school and college productions before dabbling in community theatre when he lived in Burlington and was a practicing attorney in the 1990s.
"I attend as many campus and local productions as I can and have been delighted at the level of talent in the community," he shared. "I was familiar with this particular play and I thought it would be a lot of fun and an opportunity to do again what I have enjoyed doing."
"One Man, Two Guvnors" will play at the Meroney Theater in downtown Salisbury April 23-May 2. It is billed as a celebration of British comedy and promises a unique blend of satire, songs, slapstick and glittering one-liners.
Lewis' character, Francis Henshall, is separately employed by two men, one a local gangster and the other an upper class criminal. Henshall spends the show trying to keep his two employers from meeting and each of them from learning that he works for someone else.
Other cast members include Jim Moyer as Charlie "The Duck" Clench; Sarah Hallett as Pauline Clench; John Swell as Harry Dangle; Austin Young as Alan Dangle; Sara Lee as Dolly; Marvin King as Lloyd Boateng; A. Erin Fanelly as Rachel Crabbe; Scott Teeter as Stanley Stubbers; Ben Thomas as Alfie; and Frederic Schuttenberg as Gareth.
For more details or tickets visit www.piedmontplayers.com or call (704) 633-5471. Ticket discounts are available for groups of 20 or more.
