NORWALK–“I think we all need a good laugh,” announced Kevin Connors, Artistic Director of the Music Theater of Connecticut on opening night of Ken Ludwig’s farce “The Fox on the Fairway,” skewering the foibles of golfers and their misplaced balls.

Set in the Tap Room of the Quail Valley Country Club, it’s the day of the annual tournament against the team from their perennial rivals, Crouching Squirrel. 

“Golf and sex are the only things you can enjoy without being good at them,” slyly purrs Pamela (Missy Dowes) the show’s libidinous leading lady.

To spice up the sporty competition, Club Manager Bingham (Josh Powell), who lives in terror of his domineering wife Mabel (Anette Michelle Sanders), gets roped into betting far more than he can afford with his arch-rival, duplicitous Dickie (Sean Hannon), who surreptitiously poached Quail Valley’s best player.

So Bingham turns to his eager new assistant, Justin (Ted Gibson) who is besotted with the Club’s beguiling nymphet waitress Louise (Erin M. Williams). 

Apparently Justin’s a ‘ringer’ as long as he’s not upset. But when he discovers that Louise accidentally flushed his grandmother’s engagement ring down the toilet, his game disastrously disintegrates.

Best known for “Lend Me a Tenor,” playwright Ken Ludwig pays tribute here to ‘the great British farces of the 1930s and 1940s.’ Sure, the contrived plot is flimsy but Amy Griffin’s deft direction makes the sophomoric wit of this rip-roaring romp work, along with the enthusiasm and exuberance of the expert ensemble cast, particularly during the amusing curtain-call reenactment. “The Fox on the Fairway” will be performed at the Music Theater of Connecticut, 509 Westport Ave. in Norwalk through Nov. 23, so get your tee-time – a.k.a. tickets – soon.

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Susan Granger

Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in Journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has appeared on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie critic for many years. Read all her reviews at susangranger.com.

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