Special to the PARADE
When the cast of El Paseo Arts Foundation’s ‘Rough Crossing’ takes the stage at the South Padre Island Convention Center on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 15, 16 and 17, one crucial prop they will be using is a cognac glass, refilled with cognac over, and over again. It plays a significant role in the plot but never overshadows the six hilarious characters who set sail in this comedy.
Author Tom Stoppard adapted the play from Ferenc Molnar’s ‘The Play at the Castle’ and moved the setting from a castle to a luxury liner. Two famous playwrights, Sandor Turai (Danny Dollar) and Alex Gal (Roger Dorris), set sail for New York on the S.S. Italian Castle. They are faced with finishing a musical comedy that needs a new ending, a middle and perhaps a new beginning. However, they only have four and a half days.
Their two stars and former lovers, Natasha Navratolova (Andrea Wright) and Ivor Fish (Dave Boughter), are sailing with them, along with their brilliant new composer Adam Adam (Kreig Kohl). Adam is engaged to Navratolova and suffers from a severe speech impediment.
The evening before they are expected, Turai, Gal and Adam board the ship and overhear an amorous encounter between the two stars. Adam tears up the score for the musical and threatens to leave the ship and the show.
This occurrence challenges the writers to rewrite reality along with rewriting their play.
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