“With a touch of Gilmore Girls, a splash of This is Us, and a healthy dose of Ghost, this comedy-drama will have you laughing, cheering, tearing up and guessing till the very end,” noted one reviewer of Mom’s Gift, the Nov. 6 – 15 offering at the Charlotte Players Langdon Playhouse in Port Charlotte.
Described as “a comedy with a heart,” the play concerns a deceased mom whose ghost shows up to take care of unfinished business on Earth as a ghost, before she can enter heaven. Like Clarence in It’s A Wonderful Life, she must accomplish a task to earn her wings. What the task is, is a mystery.
The problem is complicated by the fact that the only person who can hear or see Mom is her daughter, who has been ordered by the court to spend Dad’s birthday with him as part of her Anger Management Program. One by one, the family’s secrets are peeled away. revealing a shocking truth that surprises even our ghost.
Director by Ric Goodwin, the seven performances of Mom’s Gift include five 7:30 p.m. shows and 2 p.m. matinees on Sunday, Nov 8 and 15. Tickets are $22 for adults and $11 for students and may be ordered at www.charlotteplayers.org or by calling 941-255-1022 weekdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
COVID-19 precautions remain in effect. Audience members will have their temperatures taken upon entrance to the theater, will be seated far enough apart to meet recommendations, and will be provided with masks (if needed). Additional information is available at 941-255-1022. The Langdon Playhouse is located at 1182 Market Circle, Port Charlotte.
The play was penned by Phil Olson, a Los Angeles playwright and producer whose 16 published plays have had over 400 productions around the U.S. and Canada. “Mom’s Gift” won numerous awards in the Southern California arts community, where the play debuted in 2013. It also was produced at the Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester Hills, Michigan, starring Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley).
For those who missed it in September, the Charlotte Players eighth annual Comedy for a Cause is still available on Facebook. The Players’ premier fundraiser was held this year as a virtual event at the Langdon Playhouse and broadcast live Facebook. An “all-star” roster of community and business leaders presenting improvisational skits in the manner of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”
