A second ‘Wrong’ makes right for Roxy’s Downtown

For the 10th anniversary of Roxy’s Downtown’s current incarnation, the theater asked its patrons to vote on their favorite show from the past decade, which would be restaged during its new season.

Artistic director Rick Bumgardner figured the top choice would be “Pageant” or “Avenue Q,” but was taken aback to discover by an overwhelming margin it was “The Play That Goes Wrong.”

“I do think it’s one of our best,” he said. “I may be a little bit biased because I directed it and I’m one of the people in it, but I do think it’s one of our best shows.”

But Bumgardner bristled at restaging the show, which sold out all but one of its performances in January 2023.

“I’m not doing this unless a majority of them came back,” he said of the eight-member cast.

Seven of them immediately signed on.

“There’s no way I would have wanted to start this fresh with a group of eight actors at this point, especially for the beginning of our 2025-2026 season, because it’s a difficult show,” said Bumgardner, who was a last-minute replacement as the leading man 2 ½ years ago after the original star broke his hip in a car accident.

“The Play That Goes Wrong,” which reopens July 9, brings Murphy’s Law to the stage, in a production that premiered in London in 2012, and has played off-Broadway since 2019, as well as being popular in professional and amateur theaters across the country.

It follows the Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, a 1920s whodunit that turns disastrous thanks to a troupe of accident-prone thespians.

Bumgardner said that like any good farce, it’s up to split-second timing on stage and behind the scenes.

“It has to look bad, but it’s so good at looking bad. As I keep reminding the cast, we have to trust one another, because walls fall down,” he said. “If we’re not in the right place, if we don’t say the right line, somebody’s gonna pull a pin and a wall will fall down and hit one of us in the head.”

Sarah Wine, one of the returning cast members, said the unofficial theme for rehearsals has been Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” as the performers remember their blocking, lines and stage business.

“You go from asking each other, ‘Where did I move on this one?’ ‘When was this?’ and it was suddenly, ‘Oh, it’s all coming back to me now,’” she said with a laugh.

Fellow cast member Rob Valentine agrees.

“It’s been really joyous to rediscover this show as a group, because most of us are back,” he said. “There have been so many conversations about the little details, and we’re excited to remember what this show was for us.

“We can trust each other that we have each other’s back from the first time,” Valentine added.

“Not only are we trusting each other on stage, not only are we remembering things, but there’s this sense of celebration all the time, this moment of saying, ‘Oh my gosh, this was so funny when you did this,’” Wine added.

During the cast’s first reunion rehearsal, they watched a video of their January 2023 performance.

In its original run, Bumgardner said, all but the opening night was sold out. One season ticketholder, he said, returned two more times, bringing at least a dozen people with her.

“Seeing everyone celebrate it has been awesome, and hearing the response from others,” Wine said.

Valentine said it’s received more of a following than he or any other of the cast could have imagined.

“It’s interesting to find out that people still quote this show. People come up to me quoting my lines or Rick’s lines,” he said. “It’s cool to have a little cult following.”

‘THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG’

When: July 9 to Aug. 10; performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays

Where: Roxy’s Downtown, 412 ½ E. Douglas

Tickets: $42, from roxysdowntown.com or 316-265-4400