Gwendolyn Schwinke of Cedar Falls (from left), Krista Neumann of Iowa City, Licia Watson of Overland Park, Kan., Kristy Hartsgrove of Iowa City and Marquetta Senters of South Amana (center) star in in "The Dixie Swim Club," launching the Old Creamery Theatre's 40th anniversary season. (Shelley Oehler photo)

By Diana Nollen/ SourceMedia Group

AMANA — The Old Creamery Theatre is diving into its 40th season with flawless execution.

“The Dixie Swim Club” is two hours of hilarity with a heart, worthy of the troupe’s considerable talents and the reputation it has built with its legions of loyal fans.

Laughter rang throughout the mainstage auditorium for Wednesday night’s final dress rehearsal (4/27/2011). Tonight’s opening performance is nearly sold out, so don’t wait to snatch up tickets or you’ll be sitting by the side of the pool, watching everyone else jump into the fun.

The play follows five college swim club friends who meet every August at a cabin along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. While all the characters are very different and well defined, each has a soft, vulnerable underbelly.

They laugh, peck and poke fun of  each other, but are united in love and support of all the challenges they face as they age. We see them at 44, 49, 54 and 77, so the changes are plentiful, hilarious and poignant.

Director Sean McCall has cast the show flawlessly. Of course, it helps that the script, which premiered in 2007, is flawlessly written. That one of the playwrights also helped pen and produce TV’s “The Golden Girls” is obvious. The humor is crisp, clever, very, very smart and never settles for an obvious laugh. It’s genuine, which lets us genuinely embrace the women in all their situations.

McCall has proven his comedic acumen time and again onstage, so it’s no wonder he has choreographed a perfectly paced show.

Krista Neumann of Iowa City is making her first stop on the Old Creamery stage as Sheree, the swim club captain who organizes every minute of the reunion weekends, right down to packing an emergency escape kit for everyone as a hurricane looms.

Her complete opposite is sassy, trampy Lexie, a big-haired, surgically enhanced cougar always on the prowl for the next hot guy. Gwendolyn Schwinke of Cedar Falls, also taking her first plunge on the Amana stage, sparkles as she shimmies through this delicious dish.

Licia Watson of Overland Park, Kan., plays Atlanta attorney Dinah with the right touch of sass and edge to cut through Lexie’s sugar.

Kristy Hartsgrove of Iowa City turns on the innocent charm as Jeri Neal, the character who makes the biggest life leaps as the women’s stories unfold.

And Marquetta Senters of South Amana proves once again why she is a perennial Old Creamery favorite. She plays the hard-luck, low-class Vernadette with a comic tragedy that will leave audiences clutching their sides one minute and a tissue the next.

These Southern belles ring all the right notes.

ARTS EXTRA

• What: “The Dixie Swim Club”
• Where:Old Creamery Theatre, 39 38th Ave., Amana
• When: Through May 29, 2011; 3 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays; 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
• Rated: PG
• Tickets: $27 adults, $17.50 students, at the box office, 1-(800) 35-AMANA or www.oldcreamery.com