Murray State University’s Department of Global Languages and Theatre Arts is presenting a production of “The Whole Town’s Talking,” a play originally presented on campus 100 years ago.
Daryl Phillipy, a professor of acting and voice, said Murray State has a unique relationship with the play, which itself has an interesting connection to the earliest days of Hollywood.
“This was one of the very first productions ever performed on the campus of Murray State University. It was later turned into a silent film. So it had a nice run on Broadway before it was performed here on the campus and then turned into a silent film, by two very intriguing writers from that era in John Emerson and Anita Loos,” Phillipy said. “Loos is one of the great screenwriters from that era, and also contributed to a lot of the Golden Age era Hollywood films through the 1930s, 40s and 50s. She's probably best known for a novella that she wrote called Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which of course was turned into a huge hit movie starring Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s.”
Phillipy said the production’s title captures the energy of the farce, which takes place in a small Ohio town in the 1920s after a rumor spreads that a young man has had an affair with a silent film star.
The show will be presented on Nov. 16-18 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 19 at 2:30 p.m. in the Robert Johnson Theatre, located on the first floor of the Price Doyle Fine Arts Building on Murray State University’s main campus.
Tickets are available online or by calling 270-809-4221 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
