Just a few suggestions. I can vouch for them - all were very successful. I lean more to comedy-drama.

Comedy Drama:

Over The River and Through the Woods. GREAT!! Two pairs of Grandparents, the Grandson and the love interest of the Grandson. Very definitely family fare. Don't miss the opportunity to do this one!!

Neil Simon's Chapter Two.

Tribute by Bernard Slade. PG rated.

Mainstream comedy:

The Female Version of the Odd Couple - humor works in todays world.

Offbeat:

Three Viewings (some rough language)

The Guys - September 11th theme

Visiting mr. Green - Jewish and gay themes.

I Never Saw Another Butterfly - Holocaust theme - recently won the AACT national festival.

Musicals:

Fiddler on the Roof

Oklahoma!

Annie

Ethnic:

Having My Say

National Pasttime.

If the comedies are preferred, may I suggest DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER by Marc Camoletti? This production was the best experience I've had in theatre and the audiences said the same thing!

Hi:

I'd stick with some classic comedy and melodrama. Here's my top picks, a little off the well trod path:

HARVEY
SHERLOCK HOLMES (the Gillette version from French)
DRACULA (The original that Lugosi did in NY; available from French)
THE MATCHMAKER (Thorton Wilder--the play Hello Dolly was based on)
SEVEN YEAR ITCH
THE SHOW OFF
THE MALE ANIMAL (Thurber)

Any of these shows would work in the Bible belt. Good size casts too, for lots of parts!

Thom

One company here recently did Alfred Uhry's "Last Night of Ballyhoo" (same author as Driving Miss Daisy) -- and it was a huge hit -- and their audience is across the board (younger to older). Another pick might be an evening of one-act plays (thousands to choose from), and this will get you a larger cast, more mouths to spread the word and more ticket sales. If the Foreigner was popular, try Larry Shue's The Nerd -- also a funny one.

Hello:

I am responding to your posting.  A thought: How about calling for new plays and have the distinction of a world premiere?  Breakdown on new play entitled UP AND DOWN THE BATHROOM SCALE follows.  If interested, I can email it to you in Word.doc or Rich.txt

Sincerely, Linda

Title:   Up and Down the Bathroom Scale

Genre:   Contemporary 'dark' comedy

Issue:  Today's global obesity crisis.

Brief Synopsis:  A group of individuals suffering from obesity volunteer as guinea pigs for a pharmaceutical-research project that is testing a new super diet drug.  If the program is 100% successful, the pharmaceutical company promises to pay the volunteers' taxes for life.   However, three weeks into the clinical trial everything plummets into absolute calamity.  Thus, proving the old adage that when things go wrong, they go wrong all the way.
 
Situation: The outcome in the play is a no win/lose situation.  However, the ever-growing power of drug companies and the public's anxious belief that a pill (not common sense) will solve all problems is the premise in this play.  In other words, it comes forward at the end of the play when the testing fails and although the volunteers do not lose their agreed weight, they get even for not having been told all the truth about the research project.

Production/Publication History: To date, this play has not been produced, published, work-shopped or presented as a staged-reading.

Character Breakdowns (in order of their appearances):

PRESS SECRETARY?.A corporate public relations officer.
DR. DONNER?.A physician-investigator. 
CHARLES SAMUEL MOTH?.A New Zealand sheep farmer.
CROCKER?.DR.  DONNER'S disheveled and uncouth assistant.
BARBARA 'BABS' ABBOTT?.An Australian anthropologist.*
LOLITA LUGONIA?.An internationally famous flamenco dancer from Spain.*
WILHELM ZIMMERMAN?.A German plumber.*
FELICIA WHEATLY?.A meteorologist from the USA.*
GRACIE REESE?.A seamstress from the USA.*

*Role requires over-weight actors.

Set Requirements:   The Prologue and Epilogue to the play takes place on the stage apron of the stage.  (If produced in a non-proscenium arena, an aisle nearest the stage.)  All that is required is a standard speaker's podium.  Scenes 1-5 take place in a rather austere lounge at an isolated research laboratory.  The furniture comprises of a picnic table, two benches, two easy chairs, a sofa, and a low coffee table set in front of the sofa.

Synopsis of Scenes:

Prologue. Podium on the apron of the stage.
Scene 1. The lounge at research laboratory.
Scene 2. The same.   That evening.
Scene 3. The same.  A week later.
Scene 4. The same. The next morning.
Scene 5. The same.  Two week's later.
Epilogue. Podium on the apron of the stage.

Copyrighted:  ? 2004 by Linda Stockham

Linda Stockham, M.A., Playwright/Cultural Anthropologist
Part-time Lecturer in the Social Sciences
http://www.geocities.com/ljstockham/Mypage.html (abridged resume)
http://www.scriptcircle.co.uk (plays online)
http://www.singlelane.com/proplay (plays online)