Jessica Hawkins is convinced the timing is right for “Boeing Boeing.”
“This is a really silly, fun escape from what else is going on in the world that we don’t want to focus on right now,” the Fishers actress said. “It’s a good date night. It’s ridiculous at times.”
The Carmel Community Players will open the 2021-22 season with “Boeing Boeing” Sept. 10 to 19 at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way, Carmel.
Hawkins plays Gabriella, an Italian flight attendant, so she has been working on an Italian accent.
“I’ve been trying to get better and better at it,” she said. “I’m not originally Italian — big surprise.”
The play is Hawkins’ first that isn’t a musical.
“This has been a lot of fun,” said Hawkins, who performed in CCP’s “Blood Brothers” in 2017.
Indianapolis resident Eric Dixon likes that the play is high energy.
“It has me running around all over the stage, and that’s always fun,” Dixon said. “I’ve heard it referred to as a ‘door farce,’ which I think is very accurate. There is a lot of coming and going and near-misses. On the outside, it looks like I’m having a mental breakdown through the whole show, but on the inside, I’m laughing my head off.”
Prior to this show, all of Dixon’s roles in the Indianapolis area have been Shakespeare productions.
Director Dan Scharbrough said the six actors have done a great job despite having a shorter-than-average rehearsal schedule .
“It’s one wacky comedy where you don’t want certain people to meet certain other people, so you hide them,” he said. “I saw this show in its Broadway revival and I fell in love with it. It’s one of the reasons I told (CCP President Lori Raffel) that if I had a chance to direct, I wanted to do this.”
The play is Scharbrough’s first directing experience at CCP, but he has directed shows in the Indianapolis area for 30 years.
For more, visit carmelplayers.org.
