The Duluth Playhouse opens its new season this weekend with Neil Simon's "Rumors" and with Colleen Daugherty directing and acting as the organization's artistic director.
When the play's run at the Playhouse ends Oct. 3, so will Daugherty's.
Citing burnout and a workload that had grown beyond what she wanted to manage, Daugherty said she came to the sad decision to leave a job she loved and people she loved, and at which she could not have been happier.
"I just needed more of a regular day," she said.
It will be a clean break, she said, without any return engagements to direct plays. Instead, she'll work helping mentally disabled adults, another rewarding path, although she plans to get back into drama someday.
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And she said it's fitting that she leaves directing a Neil Simon show, something she loves to do.
"Rumors" tells the story of four professional couples invited to a dinner party. The night goes awry when the party never begins -- the host has shot himself (not fatally) and his wife seems to be missing. Rumors fly and soon no one can remember "who has been told what about whom," in the words of the Playhouse.
"I think it's one of Neil Simon's funniest," Daugherty said. "... He understands what entices people into a rumor, and he uses that to entice you into his show."
Simon's writing puts the audience in much the same predicament as characters on-stage, trying to piece together a story from bits and pieces, not quite knowing what's true and not true.
Doing Simon wasn't always a favorite of Daugherty's, and it still comes with challenges. For one thing, the audience comes in with certain expectations.
There's also the timing. "The timing and the pacing is a biggie with Neil," Daugherty said. "It's a challenge to have it confident enough in the group by the time you open sometimes."
She said having audience feedback, which is sorely lacking until the show opens, always helps that timing get better.
Daugherty, as always, compliments her cast and says on that basis, as well, it's a great show to leave on. Among the notable names are the energetic Jody Kujawa, Pat Isbell, Sarah Foldesi, Ryan Bianconi, Julie Enders and Alan Zeppa.
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"Rumors" starts Thursday at the Playhouse, 506 W. Michigan St. It runs Sept. 23-25 and Sept. 30-Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m., plus 2 p.m. Sunday matinees Sept. 26 and Oct. 3. Tickets cost $15 for adults, $14 for seniors, $12 for students and $8 for children ages 11 and younger.
It's the opening show in a season that will also include "Fiddler on the Roof," "Blithe Spirit," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Peter Pan" and "The Affections of May."
