The spring comedy “Leaving Iowa” is opening April 29 after only three weeks of rehearsal.

The schedule put the spring musical “Big River” and “Leaving Iowa” only two weeks apart. About a month ago, the show was cast and they had a week of rehearsals.

“We’re doing it because I have two weeks before it’s supposed to open,” drama teacher Keli Rogers said. “We can’t seem to get our schedules straight in order to have a decent length of time to do a show.”

“Leaving Iowa” is about a man from Iowa who moved to New York and is going home to Iowa for his nephew’s christening. Two or three years previous, his father had died and was cremated. The man was supposed to spread his father’s ashes on the farm where he grew up.

“The son takes the urn of ashes and sets it out. It’s a couple of hours to get to grandpa’s farm. When he gets there he discovers that the farm is now a Wal-Mart. He doesn’t really feel like he can scatter his father’s ashes at Wal-Mart,” Rogers said.
The man then sets out to find another place to scatter his father’s ashes and, in the course of doing so, remembers several of the vacations his family took when he was a child.

“There were several incidences that happened during vacations that are really funny,” Rogers said.

In the show, Julia Stanislav is the mother; Joe Uhl plays the father; Luke Meyer is the son; and Cassie Jones is the sister. There are also four other male roles and three other female roles.

“Leaving Iowa” will run April 29, 30 and May 1. Tickets are $7 or $3 with an activity pass.