Journal Staff Tanya Manus
Get ready to put your worries aside and laugh. Black Hills Community Theater is bringing Dorothy Rosby’s award-winning comedy back to the stage this spring.
BHCT’s Well Done Players will present “Alexa is a Spy (And Other Things to Check Out)” at 7:30 p.m. on April 8-9 and 2 p.m. on April 10 at the Studio Theater at the Performing Arts Center in Rapid City. Masks are recommended for the April 8 and 9 shows and mandatory for the April 10 show. Tickets for “Alexa’s a Spy” go on sale March 25. For tickets and information, go to bhct.org/well-done-players.html or call the BHCT box office, 605-394-1786.
“Alexa’s a Spy” is based on Rosby’s latest book, which was written before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and released shortly after in 2020. It’s a comedic tirade about things that are universally annoying but less serious than pandemics, gas prices and wars. “Alexa is a spy” is a good-natured rant about things that irritate us by day and keep us awake at night – too much clutter, too much noise, technology issues, too little cuteness and not enough chocolate .
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“I think those are pretty much things that bother everyone,” Rosby said. “I hope a dose of humor will be just what people need because (the last two years) have been difficult. … Every day I have to look for good things.
Rosby, from Rapid City, was recently named the global winner of the 2022 Erma Bombeck Writing Contest. She competed against writers from 48 states and six countries and won with a comedy essay titled “My New British Boyfriend,” on the sweet voice of Siri.
Rosby is the author of three comedy books and his columns appear in more than 30 Midwestern newspapers and magazines. In 2019, the Well Done Players and director Dave DeChristopher of BHCT turned excerpts from Rosby’s first two books into a sold-out show, “What I Meant To Say: A Dorothy Rosby Evening”.
DeChristopher approached Rosby to create another stage show based on “Alexa’s a Spy”. Rosby said “What I Wanted to Say” was one of the highlights of his writing career, and seeing his work on stage again is “very terrifying but it’s very exciting”.
“I’m thrilled,” Rosby said. “I’m really excited and really honored that they’re doing it again.”
“We had such a great time with the previous (show),” DeChristopher said. “Everyone loved her stuff. … She’s a treasure. … From the first minute of reading it, people were laughing.
The Well Done Players are a group of mature local artists. Nine actresses – Carol Cameron, Marilyn Hovland, Marian Reed, Melanie Wilcox, Dawn Diehl, Tish Evans, Ann Hengen, Pat Kickery and LaRee Mayes – will perform Rosby’s writing. Rosby praised them for retaining his unique voice as players translated his humorous observations from page to stage.
“I love them. It’s a great group of fun ladies,” Rosby said. They know their audience better than me and they know better than me what works with a live audience.
Technology frustrations are a big theme on the show, DeChristopher said.
“There’s a wonderful piece to the noisy devices around you and you can’t escape them,” he said. “There is a very funny piece on Facebook. There’s one I like about the obscurity of the language in the documents you receive. There’s a very funny one about his shredder.
“We’re so excited to be back,” DeChristopher said.
Ahead of the opening night of “Alexa’s a Spy” next week, Rosby will be honored at an awards ceremony for the online Erma Bombeck writing contest.
Winning the contest was exciting, Rosby said, and comes with a cash prize and free entry to a writers’ workshop in October at the University of Dayton, Bombeck’s alma mater. The writing competition takes place every two years.
“The win was huge. I was running around the house screaming and screaming for a while,” said Rosby, who is looking forward to the writers’ conference with glee.
“If you can’t have fun with 300 other humor writers, you just don’t try,” she said.
In November, Rosby’s fourth book will be released just in time for holiday gifts.
“It’s called ‘Tis the Season to Feel Inadequate’,” Rosby said with a laugh. “It’s a book about holidays and special events and special occasions and all those happy times that make us feel less than festive.”
Go to dorothyrosby.com for more information on her books and a link to her winning essay in the Erma Bombeck writing contest.
