The opening of “The Rivals” was finally upon us, and let me say it was an instant classic and made Friday night memorable.

I was a bit taken back at first when I realized where the play was going to be taking place.

I was prepared to be seated in the huge Burnight Center Theatre, but I was hesitant when I took my seat in the Burnight Studio Theatre, which is much smaller and was very up close and personal.

Even though the theater was quite small, it provided a sense of intimacy.

One could see every expression on the actors faces, one felt closer and got to really know and understand the characters.

The show is set in 1795 in Bath, England. Lydia Languish (Susannah Kim), a young, wealthy and ditzy heiress has her hand in marriage being fought over three bachelors.

Her aunt, Mrs. Malaprop (Barbara Lopez) has decided to arrange a marriage against Lydia’s will.

Her aunt believes that Lydia should marry into her status. Being wealthy is the right way to go, but Lydia has fallen deeply in love with Beverly, a poor fellow. She has no desire to marry into wealth.

Mrs. Malaprop has the arranged the marriage between Lydia and Captain Jack Absolute (Richard Martinez). What Lydia and Mrs. Malaprop don’t know is that Beverly really is Jack in disguise.

The play slowly unravels after Jack’s disguise is at last discovered.

“Come here Lydia, you hussy!” was the by far one of the lines in the play, for which Mrs. Malaprop said it to Lydia consistently.

Mrs. Malaprop was one of my favorite characters in the play. She made her entrance by being pushed around in her mobile chair and her over-the-top hair and over-flushed cheeks. Not to mention that her use of vocabulary was insanely hilarious.

She definitely was a crowd pleaser and had some of the audience members almost falling out of their seats. Her lines were perfect and she was an outstanding in character.

One of the other characters that made this play quite enjoyable was Lydia. She was so entertaining to watch, and her performance was flawless. Her dramatic outbursts were funny and the way she threw herself into that little couch when she didn’t have it her way made me laugh every time.

As petite as she may be, this woman knows her stuff. She is an incredible actor and was very believable in her performance.

All the other actors made the play outstanding as well, but these two young women made it a hit for me. I couldn’t stop watching them. My eyes were on them all the time.

Apart from the actors, the setting was fantastic. The props were simple, but they managed to perfectly create the perfect backdrop for the play.

The costumes were phenomenal. They were beautiful and each of them perfectly fit into the character the actors were playing. This costumes were bright and beautifully designed. Image is everything, right?

The only bad thing I have to say was that some of the accents were a bit too strong. I understand that there was a point trying to be made in the play regarding the accents, but some of them were hard to understand.

The couple sitting next to me said, “I can’t understand anything she just said,” at least three times. Once the audience starts questioning what the lines are, then the play starts loosing its credential.

The play, overall, was well done. It was damn good for being my first play here at Cerritos. It met my expectations and more. I can’t wait for the next play to come out, you know I will be first in line to get in.