(Street Life is a regular feature that focuses on what's playing in the stock market.)

* ACT I: The Home Run Royal Group Technologies (TSX:RYG) $12.52 Up 53.6 per cent (one-day spike on takeover offer).

Finally, some heartening news for long-suffering Royal Group shareholders. Just as the market was beginning to lose hope that a suitor would ever materialize, the company announced it has agreed to be acquired by Atlanta-based chemicals company Georgia Gulf Corp. in an all-cash deal for $1.7 billion that works out to $13 Cdn per share. Controversial Royal Group, a manufacturer of vinyl building and construction products, has been in the doghouse for years amid regulatory and criminal probes as well as lawsuits. In 2001, the stock traded as high as $31.

* ACT II: The Bomb Le Chateau (TSX:CTU.A) $39.05 Down 27.7 per cent (two-day swoon on earnings news).

Trendy Le Chateau fell out of fashion with shareholders with an earnings stunner that knocked the socks off the stakeholders. The 193-store fashion retailer reported quarterly earnings (through April 29) of $2.7 million or 45 cents a share compared to $4.6 million or 79 cents a share in the year-ago period. Le Chateau's shares rocketed in March when the Quebec-based company said it was putting itself up for sale, peaking at $59.40. Over the long haul, Le Chateau remains a smashing success in retail. Even with the recent swoon, the stock is up more than 700 per cent over the past five years.

* ACT III: The Blockbuster Trizec Canada (TSX:TZC) $33.55 Up 28.1 per cent (one-day spike on June 5 on takeover news).

In one of the biggest deals ever involving a Canadian real estate company, Trizec Canada, the holding company controlled by Canadian entrepreneurial legend Peter Munk, received a $30.97 US per share acquisition offer for its real estate holdings. The buyer is a joint venture of Brookfield Properties and buyout firm Blackstone Group, which is shelling out $4.8 billion US for Trizec Corp. The latter company owns 61 U.S. office towers encompassing 36 million sq. ft. in nine cities. Munk, the founder and chairman of Barrick Gold, invested $750 million Cdn in Trizec Corp. 12 years ago. Meanwhile, Market Regulation Services is looking into unusual trading volume in Trizec Canada shares prior to the announcement of the deal. Trizec, which usually trades under 100,000 shares per day, eclipsed the 500,000 mark in volume five times in the two weeks before the deal.

* ACT IV: The IPO Blues Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE:VG) $11.88 US Down 31.2 per cent (since trading debut at $17 US on May 24).

Since Vonage went public with its initial public offering (IPO) on May 24, the phone's been literally ringing off the hook. The company faces class-action shareholder lawsuits pertaining to its IPO and, according to the Wall Street Journal, the National Association of Securities Dealers is also probing aspects of the controversial IPO. The New York Stock Exchange's regulatory unit has also contacted brokerages about details of short-selling in Vonage stock. While many shareholders have lost almost a third of their investment, reports based on regulatory files show that Vonage founder and chairman Jeffrey Citron has a paper profit of about $500 million US from shares he purchased at an average price of $1.71 US prior to the IPO.

* ACT V: The Technology Stunner Com Dev International (TSX:CDV) $4.56 Up 17.5 per cent (one-day leap on earnings).

Stop the presses. A tech company has beaten the street - big time! Ottawa-based Com Dev reported quarterly earnings of $5.4 million or nine cents a share, waxing the consensus street estimate of five cents per share. The robust results are partly attributed to the company benefiting from a restructuring of manufacturing operations. The stock also got a boost when analysts raised their target prices. CIBC World Markets analyst Paul Lechem ramped up his target price from $4 to $5.50 on the earnings news and maintained a "sector outperform" rating.

* ACT VI: The Lazy Earner La-Z-Boy Inc. (NYSE:LZB) $13.52 US Down 20.5 per cent (since April 1).

La-Z-Boy shareholders didn't have their feet up on this company's financial results. As a matter of fact, they put their foot down, punting the stock when the third-largest furniture maker in the U.S. missed estimates on operating earnings per share and revenue. The Michigan-based company, known for its La-Z-Boy recliners, reported a quarterly earnings loss of 20 cents US per share, which included a writedown of intangible assets of 44 cents per share. CEO Kurt Darrow cited concerns about volatile energy markets and rising interest rates in his outlook.

* ACT VII: The Party Pooper Peru Copper (TSX:PCR) $5.50 Down 27.9 per cent (two-day drop on news).

As takeover plays go, this is a strange one. Shares of Peru Copper were on an Andes Mountain high, soaring 65 per cent in one week on takeover interest, specifically a play from Southern Copper (NYSE:PCU) for Peru Copper's Toromocho copper deposit. But then Vancouver-based Peru Copper rained on its own parade when it said it believed that Southern Copper, a Phoenix-based company that boasts a market cap of over $11 billion US, had no intention of making a legitimate bid, terming it "frivolous.”

Stay tuned.

* ACT VIII: The Penny Jackpot Aurelian Resources (TSXV:ARU) $18.90 Up 175.9 per cent (six-day move on exploration results).

Speculators were ecstatic after Aurelian reported stunning drilling results from its Condor gold project in Ecuador. The Toronto-based company announced a 189-metre intercept grading 24 g/t (grams per tonne). At one point, the market frenzy drove the stock as high as $21.30. Drilling continues at the project. Aurelian has 38 mining concessions in Ecuador on approximately 95,000 hectares. The company's stock boasts an astonishing return of 1,422 per cent over the past year.

(Stock prices based on results through June 9 unless otherwise specified.)

(Gyle Konotopetz can be reached at gyle@businessedge.ca)