Copperstate Dinner Theatre embodies the traditional dinner theatre format of a sit down meal followed by a comedy or farce. Copperstate has found the perfect venue at the Phoenix Greyhound Park: it has a reasonably spacious stage, a tiered audience area with clear views for most everyone, and access to a full kitchen and bar. Director Peter J. Hill has also snagged some impressive names for his current production of Neil Simon's frenetic Rumors: Valley master comedian Jon Gentry, lost-and-lamented Algonquin  Theatre cofounder and versatile actor Ron Hunting, established performer Beau Heckman, and popular comedienne Athena Reiss. With its better-than-expected dinner offerings, including a hearty prime rib, a generally strong cast, excellent design elements, solid direction, and one of Simon's mid-tier but still funny scripts, Copperstate's latest offering recommends itself as an enjoyable diversion on a summer weekend.

Rumors, which premiered in 1988, is set during the tenth anniversary party of the deputy mayor of New York City and his wife. As the evening opens, he lies in his bed with an unexplained gunshot wound through his ear, while his wife and the servants are nowhere to be found. Each couple arriving at the party is kept in the dark about the situation by those who had arrived prior, until the evening becomes a funny study of miscommunication and misinformation.

It's no surprise that the best performance comes from the most accomplished actor in the cast. As hyper accountant Lenny Ganz, Gentry is a consistent laugh buffet. He never misses a beat or muffs a laugh line. Not only is he funny, he's a strong performer, really establishing Lenny as a sarcastic bastard that you can't help but love. Hunting and Reiss are saddled with the unenviable character tasks of living exposition in the roles of the first-to-arrive Ken and Chris Gorman. However, each is committed to their creations, with Hunting deadpanning Ken's travails and Reiss succeeding at Chris' growing tipsiness. Heckman is great at maneuvering through his character arc of preening to whining as the political aspirant Glenn Cooper. Unfortunately, his balancing mate Cassie is underwhelmingly performed by Katrina Reyes, who ambles about the stage in an unfocussed way unenergetically pouting. Jan Cleavenger plays Lenny's wife Clair without much stage presence, never really differentiating herself as an equal unit of the pair. As the oddball couple Ernie and Cookie Cusack Scott Connelly and Martha Brooks do not strongly carry the over-the-top levels of their roles. Connelly is amiable enough but lacks a certain absurdity necessary for the role of a clueless analyst, while Brooks does not have a strong grasp of the loopiness of the cooking show host Cookie. In their cameo roles of the interloping police, Phil Peulecka does what is necessary for his role, while Judi Holmberg makes do with her unnecessary role.

Hill's direction utilizes his and Gregory Jaye's excellent set to create engaging and interesting stage pictures. He manages to make acceptable the textually required odd running up and down stairs and slamming door punctuations, although the forced craziness at the end of the first act still needs a few more repetitions to make it click. This is just one of a few rough moments and missed cues that will undoubtedly smooth themselves out as the run progresses. Noel Irick's costumes are excellent, save for the understated creation for Brooks' Cookie that doesn't nearly deserve the textually required derisiveness.

The second night's audience obviously loved the humor of the evening, loudly laughing at many of the punch lines. Copperstate's production is a bargain of a good meal and a funny show.