DILLON - The Lake Dillon Theatre's newest production "The Oldest Profession" is about hookers in New York, but don't expect any young men to get all hot and bothered over them - all of the ladies are over the hill and heading down.

The show opens tonight and runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 9. The Denver Post recently picked this regional premiere as one of the top 10 plays not to miss this fall.

Vera (Diane Gadomski), Lillian (B.J. Knapp), Ursula (Suzanne Pedersen), Mae (Wendy Moore) and Edna (Lennie Singer) have been friends and "co-workers" for 50 years. They're like "The Golden Girls," except prostitutes.

Now, however, as Ronald Reagan is preparing to enter office, these ladies of the night are running into problems like arthritis, younger competition and clients dying off. The girls' madame, Mae, takes care of them, but it's getting tougher and tougher.

"We've always been targets in an election year," she points out to her gals.

The show's playwright has a definite political point of view to advance in the play, as director Gary Ketzenbarger pointed out.

"It's subtle though, and we tried to treat it as such," he said.

The show is both hilarious and poignant and features some moments you might not be likely to see elsewhere in Summit - like an older woman flipping the bird and saying the F-word. The few songs in the play act as defining transition points for the characters (audiences will have to discover what those moments are on their own).

Gadomski is delightfully oblivious as Vera; Pedersen is hilarious as the money-hungry, abrasive hooker; Knapp and Moore have great chemistry; and Singer is both sexy and charismatic.

"The Oldest Profession" marks the return of a familiar face in the Summit theater scene and an exit of one of the stage favorites. Moore, formerly the Backstage Theatre artistic director and Summit Middle School principal, is making her re-emergence onto the High Country stage after a hiatus.

However, this is the swan song for Pedersen, who has lived in the county 40 years and has done more than 60 shows. She will be moving to Philadelphia after the play closes.

With such an electric cast and unique script, "The Oldest Profession" is definitely not to be missed.



Jennifer Harper can be contacted at (970) 668-3998, ext. 248, or at jharper@summitdaily.com.