When the show first opened at Manhattan Theatre Club in New York, it starred Sarah Jessica Parker as Cass Harris, the unhappily married lady at the center of David Lindsay-Abaire's Wonder of the World; it also featured Amy Sedaris as a comic-relief character. That tells you something about the star pulling power of this relatively new American writer of zany comedies now being produced by Pandora Theatre Company. When Cass discovers a strange secret her husband of seven years has kept, she decides to abandon her marriage to do all the things she never got to do before. She makes a list that includes such silliness as wearing overalls, learning Swedish and getting a sidekick. Somehow, she ends up at Niagara Falls, that most excellent of honeymooner spots. This is "an extremely funny play. Sort of in the line of an old screwball comedy like the kind that Carole Lombard was in. I say that because I'm a huge Carole Lombard fan. The character changes gears so often, nobody can keep up with her," says Amy Warren, a founding member of the company and the lead in the play. See where her kookiness takes her with Pandora Theatre Company's version of Wonder of the World today at Midtown Art Center. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through August 29. 3414 LaBranch. For information call 713-304-4656 or visit www.pandoratheatre.com. $10.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. Starts: Aug. 14. Continues through Aug. 29, 2009