Theater companies brighten gloomy time of year with love and laughs

The Big War was travel enough for Gus Klingman. He came home to New Jersey and stayed put. After his wife died, he kept staying put — and only got crankier.

“Never found a place worth all the trouble it took to get there,” he grumbles at Amanda Cross, a vivacious newcomer. “I don’t understand all this running all over the place with nothing to show for it.”

But Cross, a widowed but still-sexy Southern grandma, reminds Klingman that love can push people to do strange and surprising things. Like leave Tennessee and move north to be near your daughter and grandchildren, as she has done. Like get out of your comfy chair and down on one knee, as he eventually does — defying all expectations.

That’s the story of “Southern Comforts,” a romantic comedy for the graying generation by Kathleen Clark. It opens at the Love Street Playhouse in Woodland on Feb. 17. And, while the plot and situation are a world apart from Love Street, the theme of the play — love blossoming at a not-so-young age — mirrors exactly what’s gone on behind the scenes here.

“Southern Comforts” stars newlyweds Melinda and Lou Pallotta, local theater veterans who worked together for years before finally tying the knot last summer. Melinda is the longtime owner and artistic director at Love Street; Lou is an actor, playwright and producer — and mastermind of the “Dead Husband” dinner theater comedies at the Tony Starlight Showroom in Portland.

“We looked at several scripts before choosing this one,” Melinda said. “It speaks to our hearts about being in a loving relationship, but finding that special love at our age comes with its own challenges.”

Northern Lights

But love always comes with challenges, doesn’t it? Nowhere is it truer than in a tiny, rather surreal hamlet in northernmost Maine called Almost. On one especially cold and magical night, the people in the play “Almost, Maine,” are spellbound by the Northern Lights — and the strangest love stories start emerging.

A woman clutching a paper bag confesses that when her husband left her, her heart broke. Literally. It was removed at the hospital, she explains, but then accidentally dropped on the floor where it shattered into 19 pieces. That’s what’s in the bag — the fragments of her heart.

In another scene, two macho yet dateless BFFs at a high school dance suddenly start going weak in the knees and crashing to the floor. They struggle back up, they tumble down again. It’s the last thing a couple of tough dudes are supposed to do, but they can’t it — they’re falling in love. Literally.

“Almost, Maine,” a series of 11 short scenes by playwright John Cariani, winds up its run at Battle Ground High School on Feb. 10-11. (But another adventure is just beginning: the school drama club was invited to take this production to a theater festival in Scotland later this year.)

Has-beens and wannabes

The Noel Coward comedy “Waiting in the Wings,” presented by Magenta Theater, returns us to the theme of graying love and friendship.

“The Wings” is a charity home where actresses of a certain age go to retire, rehearse their past glories, gorge on sweets. But their peace is shattered when resident May Davenport learns that her arch-rival Lotta Bainbridge is moving in. A fundraising show, an accidental fire and a nosey reporter all add to the comedy of manners.

“Waiting in the Wings” features popular Portland torch singer and bandleader Linda Lee Michelet in a supporting role. Some profits from the Feb. 16 performance will help benefit the Police Activities League of Vancouver.

Finally, Washougal High School’s young thespians will go for comedic glory by portraying young spellers who go for orthographic glory in the madcap musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Can you spell h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s?