Great Escape: ‘Love, Sex and the I.R.S.’ Theater Night Out

A night out at the theater — close to home and with low ticket prices — is community theater’s payback to you and this weekend and next the gift comes in the form of “Love, Sex and the I.R.S.”

On stage at the James McCabe Theater in Valrico, at 506 Fifth Street, is the MDHF Productions presentation of the William Van Zandt and Jane Milmore comedy, directed by Clint Shepherd.

Billed as a “wild farce with twists of fate, sight gags, mistaken identities and hilarious comic lines,” the comedy follows the travails of out-of-work musicians Jon Trachtman and Leslie Arthur, rooming together in New York City. The play is based on the “day or reckoning” that comes after the duo has been filing their tax returns as a “couple."

Shepherd is the director of the production and founder of MDHF Productions. The show has been staged multiple times at various venues since its initial Plant City Entertainment staging at the Plant City Entertainment theater in November 2009.

The eight-member cast features Doug Buffaloe (Leslie Arthur), Clint Shepherd (Jon Trachtman), Tom Guerre (Floyd Spinner, from the I.R.S.),  J.J. Cothron (Kate Dennis), Terry Fiset (Vivian Trachtman, Jon’s mother), David Hickie (Mr. Jansen, the landlord), Brielle Benton (Connie, Leslie’s girlfriend) and Corey Wade (Arnold Grunion).

“I love the part (of Floyd Spinner), it’s a good comedic part and that’s the kind I really enjoy,” Guerre said, at rehearsals March 2 at the James McCabe Theater. “He’s just a character. He’s a dirty old man and a lush."

Buffaloe, as Leslie Arthur, gets to dress in drag and be a ham.

“I like being the star,” he said. “I’m a ham, so I prefer the spotlight, and Leslie gets the majority of the spotlight in the show."

As for Benton, who last appeared on the James McCabe Theater stage in the Village Players and Stagedoor Community Theater production of “,” her latest role, as Connie, brings some much-appreciated comic relief.

“I like that I get to be ditzy and really gullible,” she said. “There’s no drama, no seriousness to her character at all. It’s a big change coming from the serious nature of ‘Rent’ but it’s a good change.”

Show dates for the current staging of “Love, Sex and the I.R.S.” are March 4-5 and 11-12, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $12.

For after-theater dining, visit the Brandon Patch directory and make it a night out.