Comedy to take the stage at Somerset Valley Players  

A new comedy is set to begin at the Somerset Valley Players.

The comedy is called “Legally Gray” and will open in Hillsborough on July 19.

The show will run until Aug. 4 at the Somerset Valley Players Theater, which is located on 689 Amwell Road.

The Friday and Saturday performances begin at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m., according to theater officials.

“Mike and Marie Malone could be any couple dealing with retirement and family,” explained Holly Kowalenko, director of “Legally Gray.” “What the show does is take the relatable experience of the sandwich generation dealing with grown children and in-laws and make it hilariously complicated for them.”

According to Kowalenko, the couple are the heart of the show and audiences have to like and root for them from the first moments of the play.

“When Thom Carroll and Laurie Hardy (the actors playing Mike and Marie) showed
up for auditions there was an immediate chemistry between them,” she said. “There was no need to look further. I had found my Mike and Marie!”

Kowalenko said there’s another man and woman at the heart of the show.

The playwrighting duo Tony Schwartz and Marylou Ambrose, two acting friends from Pennsylvania, were part of a troupe of actors putting on productions wherever they could find a venue.

Eventually they began to write and produce their own shows.

“I met Tony a long time ago and inquired about their plays. He recommended Legally Gray and told me about its successful runs in several community theaters,” Kowalenko said. “I can’t wait for them to attend our July 28 show. It’s a privilege as a director to have the playwright see your work.”

For more information about the show, visit www.svptheatre.org.