About the Play:

The Face on the Barroom Floor or Glimpsed Through the Sawdust is a melodrama spoof by Tim Kelly, which was inspired by H. Antoine D'Arcy's poem. Who doesn't love an old-time melodrama featuring a pure and delicate heroine, a dashing yet daffy hero, and a dastardly villain? The Face on the Barroom Floor is a family-friendly evening of entertainment that takes the audience back to the days when virtue was rewarded and good always triumphed over evil.

The Face on the Barroom Floor is set in the 1890's at the Teller House, a hotel in Central City, Colorado, and is based on an actual painting on the hotel's lobby floor. The artwork has inspired the writing of a song, a poem, an opera, and this play. Like all melodramas, the show's forlorn heroine is pursued by a scheming villain and rescued by the dashing hero. Our hero, Jack "Toulouse" Goodhart, is a penniless painter who is engaged to be married to our heroine, Madelaine Mockingbird. Madelaine works in the Teller House as a maid, but she aspires to a singing career. Enter Roderick Rodent, theatrical producer and villain. When he discovers that Madelaine has inherited a fortune from an old miner and she wants to be a singer, he is determined to fleece as much money from her as he can. Meanwhile, Bella Yukon, a previous victim of Rodent's, is determined to get back her money, and she conspires with him to take advantage of Madelaine. Will Madelaine get the career she's dreamed of? Will Jack and Madelaine end up together? Will Roderick Rodent take the money and run? Will Bella get what's owed her? All these questions will be answered, and a lot of silly business will happen along the way.

The Face on the Barroom Floor was first presented by Theatre Americana in Pasadena, California as part of its 1986 season. It is extremely simple to stage, features good character parts, hilarious sight gags, throw away lines, zany action, classic vaudeville routines, and some really terrible (and very funny) jokes. Easy rehearsals and no production problems make this a popular choice for school and community theatre productions.

Cast: 8 female, 6 male or 9 female, 5 male, optional extras and variety acts

About the Playwright:

Tim Kelly (1931-1998) is often regarded as the most-published playwright in America, with over 300 titles to his credit under both his real name and at least four pseudonyms (Vera Morris, J. Moriarty, Robert Swift, Keith Jackson). Many of his plays, like Les Miserables, M*A*S*H and The Uninvited, are adaptations of novels, films. or television series, although he also wrote a host of parodies a well as original scripts and musical libretti. While his plays have been performed off-Broadway and by such companies as the Royal Court Rep, the Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) and Seattle Rep, he is best known for writing for university, community and school theatre.