'Women Want Everything' is modern, urban and one night only

Whatever you do, don't compare Rory Lawrence and Tyler Perry.

The emerging Tampa actor swears he means no disrespect to the entertainment mogul. Rather, he doesn't want the comparison because he's just not at Perry's level - yet.

Lawrence will host and perform in the one-night-only Saturday production of "Women Want Everything" at the Jaeb Theater inside the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts.

"Women Want Everything," written by Rod Grant, a friend of Lawrence who also appears in the 90-minute play, is the story of a group of guy friends trying to figure out exactly what it is women really want. (It does contain adult language and subject matter.)

Clueless, yet determined (just like the eight-member cast that has rehearsed every weekend for the past five months), the guys set out to test their individual theories and find themselves back at the poker table to try and test another solution.

"It's the production modern and urban," said Grant, who met Lawrence in an acting class at Venue Actors Studio in St. Petersburg. "A lot of times theaters only rehash classics, which is OK, but every once in awhile someone has to break out."

And breaking out is what Lawrence and his motley crew of area actors are trying to do.

"You know why we do this? Because I got tired of not getting positions from auditions," said the 30-something Mulberry High School graduate. "If they won't let us kick the door down, I will build my own door."

His journey to the stage sounds like something ripped from the pages of a screenplay for the church kid who romped around Pasco County while growing up.

After graduating from high school in 1991, Lawrence attended Pasco Community College. He later ended up at a Bible college and was ordained. Still, being a minister wasn't his calling, he said.

"I was introduced to acting in plays at church when I was a kid. I hated it," he said. "But when I got to high school ... the first time I read a monologue, something just lit up.

Lawrence founded RL Productions in October 2008. He's produced five shows, including a production of "Raisin in the Sun" that packed the Hillsborough Community College's theater in Ybor City.

"That place holds 270 people and more than 320 showed up. We had people sitting on the floor," he said.

ON STAGE

"Women Want Everything"

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Jaeb Theater, David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa; (813) 229-7827

COST: $20