WOOSTER — For those looking for first-class entertainment close to home, look no further than Wayne County with Wooster’s Ohio Light Opera (OLO). We combined one visit with a stop at the Buckeye Agricultural Museum in Wooster, and two trips with lunch in the delightful rural setting of the Pine Tree Barn.

We enjoyed two performances of OLO in the past week, with afternoon performances of “Arizona Lady” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Both musical productions sparkle with excellent musical presentations as well as witty storylines and captivating characters.

“Arizona Lady” is new to OLO this summer, where the setting is the Sunshine Ranch in Arizona. The owner is Lona Farrell, a Hungarian immigrant who has just fired her manager because he tried to kiss her. The plot thickens when a singing cowboy, Roy Dexter, comes by to take her mind off her problems.

The story is bursting with fun and the delightful music of a full orchestra. It’s called a comic opera, and it’s true to its billing with many pranks and pratfalls.

“How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” is based on a novel in which a young man makes a spectacular rise from a mailroom clerk to the head of a company. It became the fifth-longest running Broadway musical in the 1960s. It won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, only the fourth musical to win the Pulitzer, and one in only 10 musicals to ever win the prize.

How to Succeed in Business has one laugh after another and was met with huge applause from the audience. A couple familiar numbers are “I Believe in You” and the well-known “Brotherhood of Man.”

“That song alone was worth the price of admission,” exclaimed the fellow sitting beside me as the applause rose after “Brotherhood of Man.”

The actors in both productions show their joy in the music and in the stories, while the audience responded with enthusiastic applause and laughter at all the punchlines.

The music in “Arizona Lady” is by Emmerich Kalman, who was born and educated in Hungary before moving to Vienna, Austria, and later to the United States. It has much of the influence of Hungarian folk tunes as well as the touch of Strauss waltzes.

Much of the delight in both musicals is due to the beautiful voices and inspired acting of the lead Spencer Reese, who plays J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed and Chester Kingsbury in “Arizona Lady.” The other standout is Louisa Waycott, who plays Rosemary, Finch’s love interest in How to Succeed and also played the lead, Lona Farrell, in “Arizona Lady.”

My high school friend Joy Thompson Watts commented that it’s amazing how the actors could perform in several productions in one week. Four other shows in the 2023 summer season are “No, No, Nanette;” “H.M.S. Pinafore;” “Orpheus in the Underworld;” and “Camelot.”

Prior to the operetta, Allen and I enjoyed lunch at Pine Tree Barn just south of Wooster. It’s a favorite for lunch and shopping in Wayne County. My friend, Joy Watts, and her husband, Bill, shared lunch with us on the patio of the Pine Tree Barn, which has a breathtaking view of the valley and hills beyond.

Prior to the “Arizona Lady” show, Allen and I visited the Buckeye Agricultural Museum in Wooster with my sister, Margaret, and her husband, Stuart Wright. We had a very interesting tour by the museum secretary Bonnie Shaaf. The museum is open the second Saturday of the month and during the Wayne County Fair.

The museum’s collection of farm implements is impressive with some dating from before the Civil War.

We were surprised to see two planters on display which were donated by Jerry and Faith Jagger of Mount Gilead. Along with larger equipment such as the Russell steam engine and Champion threshing machine, there are corn shellers, tools, a broom maker, and exhibits that show the progression of agriculture in Ohio.

For more information on the museum, visit www.buckeyeagriculturalmuseum.com, call 330-317-9277, or email [email protected].

The Ohio Light Opera is billed in the Wayne County brochures as “America’s premier lyric theater festival.” Singers, actors, and musicians are the “resident professional company of the College of Wooster.” Productions are in the Freedlander Theater at the College of Wooster, 329 E. University St., Wooster.

For more information, visit www.ohiolightopera.org or call 330-263-2345. Performances are through July 30.

Alberta Stojkovic is a correspondent for The Morrow County Sentinel.