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“Thank you, Elliot Spitzer,” said Chris Hallum, who plays the title role. “We really lucked out.”
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Senator Harry Douglas, right, played by Chris Hallum, argues with Congressman Clyde Salt, played by Burton Svendson, Thursday during a dress rehearsal in the Sensuous Senator by the Rushford Area Society of the Arts. Performances begin July 16. (Photo by Paul Solberg/Winona Daily News) |
The play opens Wednesday and is being performed through Sunday at the
Rushford-Peterson High School Theater in Rushford, Minn.
“The Sensuous Senator,” directed by Daryl Lanz, follows the bedlam that happens after Sen. Harry Douglas runs for president on a morality platform amidst a scandal involving his secretary, an escort agency, an elderly congressional colleague, a magazine reporter and a snowstorm at the airport.
Hallum, 37, laughed out loud when he first read the script. He’s appeared in RASA’s annual summer production since 1999. Hallum has played a drama critic, dentist, lawyer, wizard, head waiter, handyman and a chalk inspector. It’s definitely a switch from his third-shift job in the customer manufacturing division at Fastenal.
“This guy is two-faced and a natural clown,” Hallum said of his role in the play. “I saw it as a challenge.”
Parker, who is from England, sent the cast a book on the philosophy of farce, artwork the cast used for T-shirts and a good luck note.
“Neil Simon didn’t do that when we did ‘Barefoot in the Park.’”
Hallum said the play is all about the laughs.
“You’re going to go in and laugh. There’s no deeper meaning,” Hallum said. “We do one play a year. People want to just go and have a good time.”
If you go
WHAT: “The Sensuous Senator”
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
WHERE: Rushford-Peterson High School Theater, 102 N. Mill St., Rushford, Minn.
TICKETS: $9 in advance at Rushford Foods, $12 at the door or to reserve by phone at (507) 864-7525
Contact Käri Knutson at kknutson@winonadailynews.com or (507) 453-3523.
