It’s 1932, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and rum running is at its peak.
Irving Bubbalowe has risked everything to open a restaurant, but when his singing chef fails to appear the grand opening is placed in jeopardy.
Add a mob of Chicago gangsters, 500 boxes of bootleg booze, a suspicious Mountie with no head for liquor and an overzealous immigration officer, and you have the perfect recipe for farce.
The result is a hornet’s nest of fabricated identities and misunderstandings, as Bubbalowe tries to save the day.
The story unfolds hilariously in Century Theatre Guild’s production of Too Many Cooks, by Marcia Kash and Douglas E. Hughes, directed by Jo Phenix.
Ken Noakes appears as Bubbalowe, with Lindsay Grisebach as his daughter Honey. Newcomer to the guild Jason Riedel plays the mob boss, with John Lefebvre as his enforcer.
Greg Allen’s character Frank changes identity and even nationality with alarming rapidity, while Immigration Officer Snook, played by Rebecca Castellino, pursues communists and romance with equal enthusiasm.
Doug MacDougall plays Mickey, the opera-loving, double-crossing rum-runner, with Martyn Worsnop as the Mountie trying to make sense of the confusion.
The show runs in Hillsburgh from May 25 to June 3, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2:30pm.
Tickets are $20 from the box office at 519-855-4586.
