Looking for Blind Dating Tips? The Cast of Check, Please Has You Covered! – The Quadrangle
Colin Sweeney plays the mime alongside a psychic.
LIZ DONG / COURTESY
By Alexandrea Velez, Staff Writer
Manhattan College Players held their student slot production of Check, Please this past Friday, showcasing a series of terrible first dates. The main characters, Guy and Girl, sit several tables away from each other at the Cullen and Kane’s restaurant, a name picked out by castmates, and date one odd character after another.
Landen Scofield, a junior majoring in education with an English concentration, played Guy, the leading male character. Scofield told The Quadrangle how this performance differs from other Players productions he has participated in, such as last semester’s Phineas and Ferb-themed cabaret and Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors.
“Check, Please is different from what I’ve done with other plays,” Scofield said. “This one is more improv-based for a lot of stuff, and you can make the lines funnier just by doing random things. It changes every night, which I haven’t had in a performance before.”
The interactions during the dates range from a psychic who is somehow great at hacking phones or a pirate not interested in love but instead a scurvy crew of buccaneers.
Sophomore Olivia Bailey was cast as Girl, the leading female character, after helping stagehand another performance of Check, Please, bringing a sense of what it was like before it was brought to Players. Bailey explained the personable atmosphere that Check, Please had due to director Tess Nunan’s leadership, which was unique and unlike any production she has been a part of.
“This production of Check, Please differs because the lovely Tess Nunan directed it, and she makes the experience so amazing for all of us,” Bailey said. “[Rehearsal] was one-on-one instead of just being told what to do all the time.”
Kevin Kane, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering whose first performance at MC was Check, Please, played two roles, Ken and Dewey. One was a sophisticated traveler from the shores of New Jersey and the other was an accountant who loves being extreme, especially on first dates.
“It was a lot of fun because I’ve never done anything like this,” Kane said. “I got to play around with my characters and have fun with everybody in the cast.”
Director Tess Nunan is the President of Players, and as she nears her graduation, Check Please will be one of Nunan’s last productions here at MC. Nunan and the other Player’s board members chose Check, Please for this year’s student slot due to the simplicity yet humorous tones.
Nunan explains how proud she is of the cast and their ability to bring her vision to life with this production.
“I think Grace Coutu does a great job as Paul, who is this misogynistic, terrible guy,” Nunan said. “love both Kevin Kane and Cullen, Collin Sweeney and Karie Alvarez. It’s hard to pick just one of them I am proud of. It’s like picking between children.”
As the three-night specials and restaurant doors convert back to what MC knows as the Black Box, the cast of Check, Please reminds students why it is important to check their matches and continue to attend Players productions.