Arla Ralston
Contributing Writer
The Pocahontas Drama Workshop will present the classic comedy Never Too Late at the Pocahontas County Opera House in Marlinton. Performances are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16, but may be changed according to CDC public gathering safety guidelines.
“The dates may change but the show will go on,” Director Margaret Baker said. “And when it does, an evening of light-hearted laughter may prove to be just what the community needs.”
Baker returns to directing after a five-year break from the theater.
Written by Sumner Arthur Long, Never Too Late opened on Broadway in 1962 and ran for three years – 1,007 performances – making it one of the longest running non-musical shows on the New York stage. It spawned a 1965 film version, with Paul Ford and Maureen O’Sullivan, reprising their roles as Harry and Edith Lambert.
The Lamberts are a middle-aged couple who have settled into their comfortable routines. He runs the lumber yard and she manages the house. Their lives are upended by the discovery that they are about to become parents again. Their adjustment to the big news launches a roller-coaster ride that will keep the audience laughing throughout.
Baker, who recently retired from teaching, is glad to be back on the local theater scene. She has led the Drama Workshop through 21 productions.
Local couple, David Fleming and Dawn Baldwin, of Bartow, have taken on the roles of the expectant parents. While this is Baldwin’s first time on the stage, Fleming has appeared in three other Drama Workshop productions.
Rachel Fanning, of Linwood, who made her Drama Workshop debut last year as M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias, plays Kate Clinton, the couple’s married daughter. Kate’s husband, Charlie Clinton, is played by Will Armentrout. Armentrout is an astronomer at the Green Bank Observatory.
Though this is his first performance with the Drama Workshop, he is no stranger to the stage. He has a long list of theater credits from his high school and undergraduate years.
Jay Miller, of Hillsboro, will be seen in the dual roles of Dr. Kimbrough and the policeman. Miller’s first theatrical venture was as the King of Bohemia in Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure and since then he has appeared in just about every Drama Workshop production.
Laura Dean Bennett, of The Hill Country, plays Grace Kimbrough, the doctor’s wife and Edith Lambert’s best friend.
David Bethany, of Marlinton, will play Mayor Crane, the Lambert’s next-door neighbor.
Baker has assembled a great crew to help backstage.
Susan Chappell, Chris-tin Bartlett and Sue Gauntt are working together to create the set. Frank and Janet Ghigo will once again be running sound and lights. Jane Huppert will be scouring the county for 60s props, while Leslie McLaughlin will pull together the period costumes for the cast.
Tickets will be $10, available at the door.
Drama Workshop productions are made possible by funding from Poca- hontas County Drama, Fairs and Festivals in cooperation with the Pocahontas Opera House.