THE METROMANIACS BEGINS ON JULY 21, 2022
Metromaniacs aren’t people who are crazy about subways. They are people who are nuts about poetry, i.e. verse composed in meter. David Ives’ play The Metromaniacs is an English language adaptation of a French farce from 1738, La Metromaie, and it is set in Paris in that year, a moment when there was a particular craze for poetry. Ives’ 2015 play is performed in English, in rhyming couplets. The new Theatre 40 production marks its Los Angeles Premiere.
Would-be poet Damis has fallen in love with the works of a mysterious Breton poetess, not knowing that she is really Francalou, a middle-aged gentleman. Meanwhile, Damis’s non-literary friend Dorante has fallen in love with Francalou’s daughter, Lucille, who mistakes her new suitor for her favorite poet — Damis! Add to the chaos some scheming servants, pseudonyms, and disguises, and there is much to untangle before love-plots are resolved and a happy ending found. With his sparkling wit and brilliant sense of comedic timing, David Ives brings a new shine to this lost classic.
Playwright David Ives’ Broadway credits include Venus in Fur; Dance of the Vampires; David Copperfield: Dreams and Nightmares; and adaptations of classic musicals and plays (Irving Berlin’s White Christmas; Wonderful Town; Finian’s Rainbow; Is He Dead?). Ives is also an actor.
Marjorie Hayes directs. Her cast for The Metromaniacs includes (in alphabetical order) Alec Anderson Carrasco, John Combs, Mandy Fason, Michael Lanham, Hisato Masuyama, Josephine Nunez and David Hunt Stafford. Set design: Jeff G. Rack. Costume design: Michèle Young.
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The Metromaniacs
Theatre 40’s Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 S. Moreno in Beverly Hills
Thurs–Sat at 8; Sun at 2
July 21-August 21, 2022
for tickets ($35), call 310.364.0535 or visit Theatre 40
