Sequels – they’re a funny thing. Sometimes they rise to the top, equaling their original source – sometimes they sink so fast it makes one wonder why the original material wasn’t left alone.

     But fear not, those who were unable to catch Ladies of Eola Heights part one, you won’t be left out. Orlando’s Lantern Light Studios will be editing a previously-filmed performance of the play into a short "Previously on Ladies of Eola Heights"-video montage, which will be screened at the top of each performance of the new show.

     Wanzie took a break from his many chores to discuss his latest production, a show he says was his most difficult project to write ever.

     How did this comedic glance back on Orlando become so popular?

     When we were doing Carolina Moon, The Orlando Sentinel did an article about all the local references we had in the show to old time Orlando. That little mention, the trip down nostalgia lane started this influx of senior citizens coming to the Parliament House to see the show.

     I got a dozen pieces of mail from people who lived at the Carolina Moon, people from Ocala and Tampa even who had once lived there. That show ran 8 months with a break in between and even survived cast changes, but it was truly sustained by seniors.

     There was a sequel to that show called Trailer Trash Christmas, which also got great reviews.

     By time I got to writing Ladies Of Eola Heights I purposely made it an Orlando neighborhood, based on the momentum built up from the past two shows.

     When it opened, it was crazy what happened. We only had 2 shows out of 9 months of Saturdays that were not complete oversells. The Sentinel did a human interest story on it where they came to performances and interviewed members of the audience. That article came at a great time to give it another boost for attendance. Scheduling conflicts of the cast members is what caused the show to close – we never imagined it would go on so long.

     You know, we also were real popular with bachelorette parties, too! We even did a couple of baby showers too where the women would come in and have their party before the play. It’s all pretty bizarre actually.

     But we’ve also seen the Red Hat Lady Society come several times, school teacher associations – they’ll take 20 seats at a time.

     But I don’t write specifically for a gay audience; I do write with gay themes and cross dressing actors. In the age of Will & Grace it’s become kind of cool to see something gay, not necessarily raunch and dirty, but a bit of cross dressing and a bit of camp humor.

     I wrote Ladies so it could be done by women as well as having it done with all of us in mind. The script reads so that it could be played by women, although Miss Sammy’s character has to be a cross dressing man.

     There’s a theater group in Saratoga Springs, New York who is requesting materials from the show and are possibly staging it in a summer stock production in July. It’s the first time someone’s contacted me to produce one of my shows.

     I almost want to go up and see one of their shows first. It’s a wonderful thing to have others see and want to produce your work. But it’s close enough to New York City that a New York producer could easily see it. I just want them to do it right. The last thing I need is to have a bad review of the show so close to New York.

     Tell me a bit about writing this new show.

     Honestly, it’s the most difficult thing I’ve done. None of us involved with the first one have ever enjoyed that measure of success with a show before, where we’ve had to turn people away.

     People kept coming back for the first show because they loved the characters. Also, that show is full of surprises, but those surprises are out of the bag. That they have a brother who comes out singing is no longer a joke. Plus people thought they were coming to see one of my broad comedies but then the show ends up dealing with a strong subject – abuse.

     Knowing that the same audience will be coming back, looking for new surprises… well, conceptually it was the hardest thing I had to come up with. I knew I had to come up with something new, that’s where I hit on the idea of bring Darcel into the cast. Now, how she’s utilized is a secret! It’s one of the means that I’ve managed to put something fresh into part two.

     Since the four of you have already established yourselves as a cohesive team, how does that change the dynamics when you bring in a new character and a new actor?

     Well, in a way, it really is so unfair to Darcel, and until Ladies, Sammy had never really spoken lines in a show before. In the sequel she plays Jackson quite a bit.

     At the initial table read, it was a bit intimidating. The three of us already had gotten to know our characters, the phrasing, that sort of thing. It was a hump they had to get over.

     I’m also in weekly management meetings at the P House with the man behind Darcel. He’s nothing like his character. But my cast doesn’t know that side of Darcel. They were taken aback and expected her to start doing her part like the powerhouse MC that most people know her as. They haven’t seen her rehearse drag shows. She barely moves when she’s rehearsing. But when she is costume, she becomes her character. The cast will see a huge difference once she puts on the costume.

     What are your expectations with the show?

     I’m trying to not have any! It scares me. Now when I read it, it seems too silly and too stupid to even attempt. But Kenny Howard, our director, loved it from the first second he read it. He thinks I’m too close to it to see the goodness of it. I’ve gotten to like it better thanks to Kenny. But I don’t want to appear overly optimistic. We’ll see what the audience thinks.

     Knowing that a core group of your audience is senior citizens, how does that change or color the way you write?

     This script is raunchier. There was no raunch in part one but there is pure raunch in part two. There are mentions of things that are more unseemly in regards to sexuality and of the gay community. I didn’t pull back this time and went just the opposite – I went in the other direction. We’ve earned their trust – let’s broaden their horizons even more!

     No – I don’t think I went that far.

     With Ladies we had a special matinee for a retirement travel group - 165 seniors on three busses. It was a mystery tour for them, they didn’t know they were coming to our show. When they arrived we had greeters go to each bus and give them a history of the resort. Of course, in the lobby we just happened to have go-go boy posters advertising the strip contest finals. The women were all smiles and teetering, but the men … they kept looking at the floor. They did not look happy at all.

     As it turned out, everyone ended up loving the show so much. We did a meet and greet in costume after the show and every one – men and women – said something lovely and wonderful to us. The group organizer said that at the end of the year, our tour stop got ranked as the favorite of the year.

     Yes and no. It’s written as Jack Daniels, but we’re not all Jack drinkers. It’s actually Captain Morgan and Coke, with an emphasis on the Coke so we can get the right color combination. But we are drinking the entire time and are drunk by the end of the show.

     She usually has a little more before the show! (laughs) Actually, on occasion, she’ll spin over to the bar and take a swig out of the bottle. Once, when we were really messing up, she came out during one of her numbers with a script of the show and slammed it on the table. Of course I had to say, "Fuckin’ bitch has no lines and she still found a way to ad-lib."

     This show I wrote in some on-stage drinking for Sam.

     Another thing that is different here, Sam only lip-synced snippets in the first show. Here she has two complete numbers, from start to finish.

     I’ve never had more fun than with this cast or with doing any other show. It was reason enough to do a sequel.

     WHAT: After The Prom: Ladies of Eola Heights Part 2

     HOW: Online Reservations: Pre-pay with MasterCard, Visa or Pay Pal at Wanzie.com. Tickets by phone at (407) 540-0317. Cash only at the door, if available.