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Arts & Entertainment

Musical Comedy By Jeeves Coming to CTG in March

Chester Theater Group's next show a labor of love for director Jeff Jackson.

The upcoming, ‘By Jeeves,’ is an example of the more obscure plays that the Chester Theater Group is known for. But in the case of this comedic musical, it has the pedigree of being written by Phantom of the Opera and Evita auter Andrew Lloyd Weber. Composer Weber and lyricist Alan Ayckbourn collaborated on the witty piece, but is not one of Weber’s big commercial productions.

Jeff Jackson, who is the author of two published and produced plays, is directing ‘By Jeeves’ with Roseann Ruggiero, which begins March 2 and runs through March 18 for nine performances held on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday matinees.

He is also playing the role of Bertie Wooster, Jeeves’ socialite employer. Taking on the role of both performer and director has had its share of challenges. "On the upside, I'm one less actor I need to worry about. Uncannily, I always perform my character exactly the way I envisioned him. And I'm available to rehearse 24/7," Jackson said. "On the other hand, you really have to divide yourself in two. Half of you focused on your performance so that your fellow actors have something good to play off of, while the other half is watching all the action and making mental notes about potential improvements and changes. It's a controlled schizophrenia."

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So when Jackson dons a third hat to work on scenery for the show, he leans on his creative team. "I'm far from alone. I have excellent help from my veteran co-director, Roseann Ruggiero, from our talented Music Director, Thomas Rodgers, from our stellar costumers, Mark Happel and Scaramouche Costumes, from Steve Catron, who's handling all the set painting, and from a big crew of volunteer painters, builders, stitchers, and helpers," Jackson said. "And my wife, Kathleen, is in the show, as well. By Jeeves has been a dream project for both of us for years, so she's another reliable set of eyes and ears on everything."

Jackson said, Jeeves the butler, and his employer Bertie Wooster, are as well-known to the British as Charlie Brown and Snoopy are to Americans and nearly all of the Jeeves stories share the same comic premise: even though Bertie is a snooty, society type, he is actually rather dimwitted, while his servant Jeeves is the one who is savvy and intelligent and must often rescue Bertie from his ill-fated follies and escapades.

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Jackson and his wife have wanted to mount this show for a long time and couldn't be more pleased with the opportunity afforded to them by CTG. As a director driven theater, it is a place where shows like this get produced. "But I'm definitely giving my all on this one," said Jackson, who is working on a piece of stuntwork involving a very large ladder for the show. "We're considering combining the very last performance with some sort of ceremony during which I'm loaded into the ambulance accompanied by the orchestra."

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