Inspecting Carol at Somerset Valley Players

Somerset Valley Players is staging *Inspecting Carol* in Hillsborough through May 3, with performances this weekend at its playhouse on Amwell Road. (svptheatre.org) The company says the show runs Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., with adult tickets at $24 and senior, student, and child tickets at $22. (svptheatre.org) *Inspecting Carol*, written by Daniel J. Sullivan, follows a man who arrives to audition at a small theater and is mistaken for an investigator from the National Endowment for the Arts. The mix-up drops him into the troupe’s production of *A Christmas Carol*, where rehearsals keep falling apart. (svptheatre.org) Somerset Valley Players has billed the production as a backstage comedy built on slapstick, satire, and mistaken identity. New Jersey Stage’s statewide theater roundup included the show among productions running April 21 through April 27. (newjerseystage.com 1) (newjerseystage.com 2) The production is directed by Holly J. Kowalenko, according to the theater company’s show page and season listing. Somerset Valley Players lists the run as part of its 59th season. (svptheatre.org 1) (svptheatre.org 2) The cast includes Kevern Cameron as Larry Vauxhall, Dawn Cimilluca as Dorothy Tree-Hapgood, Fred Cooper as Luther Beatty, Mike Johnson as Phil Hewlitt, Cindy Magalio as Betty Andrews, Robyn Mandalakis as M.J. McMann, and Rink Patel as Walter E. Parsons. (newjerseystage.com) Somerset Valley Players performs in the Little Red Schoolhouse at 689 Amwell Road in Hillsborough. State and county tourism listings describe the group as a year-round community theater with regular Friday, Saturday, and Sunday performances. (visitnj.org) (visitsomersetnj.org) For audiences looking for a local comedy this week, the practical details are straightforward: Hillsborough, three remaining weekends in the run, and tickets through the Somerset Valley Players box office. (svptheatre.org)