Andrew James Gordon of West Windsor portrays the dual roles of Jack Gable and Stephanie in a production of “Leading Ladies” at the ActorsNET in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, through Sunday, February 14.
Gordon is reuniting with Olivier Leroux, whom he met seven years ago when Gordon, then a sophomore at High school North, was cast in his first professional theater production — “The Uninvited Guest” at the Manhattan Repertory Theater in New York City.
Set in York, Pennsylvania, in 1958, “Leading Ladies” centers on two down-on-their-luck British Shakespearean actors, Leo Clark (Leroux) and Jack Gable (Gordon). The pair discovers through a newspaper that Florence, an older ailing woman, has been unable to find Max and Steve, her sister’s children who moved away to England when youngsters, in order to include them in her multimillion-dollar inheritance.
They decide to pose as Max and Steve to claim a portion of it. When they discover that “Max” and “Steve” are actually “Maxine” and “Stephanie,” they continue on, undaunted, in drag. Luckily Cheryl Doyle, the costume director and fellow thespian portraying Aunt Florence, managed to outfit Gordon in a pair of black high-heeled, size 13 pumps.
This is Gordon’s second comedy and fifth show with the ActorsNET Theater Company and he considers them his second family. He most recently appeared in “Moon Over Buffalo,” “Equivocation,” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Over the summer, Gordon appeared in the Oxford Shakespeare Company’s “Richard III” as Henry, Earl of Richmond, and performed in New York City, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Bosworth Field in the UK. He may also be spotted on TV in four episodes of the Travel Channel’s “Mysteries at the Castle” currently airing.
Gordon will be leaving at the end of this run to go on tour with Shakesperience Productions in Connecticut. Shakesperience’s goal is to teach school children about Shakespeare and the importance that the theater and the arts can have in their lives.
“The bard has had such a profound effect on me since the day I inherited my grandfather’s set of leather-bound complete works of Shakespeare and I really want to share my excitement for the theater with the next generation,” he says.
Leading Ladies, Actors’ NET, 635 North Delmorr Avenue, Morrisville, PA. $20. Through February 14. 215-295-3694. www.actorsnetbucks.org.
