DUBOIS – Young newlyweds learn to cope with life and each other, as the Reitz Theater Players present the Neil Simon classic, Barefoot in the Park at the Reitz Theater in DuBois on May 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday May 8 at 2 p.m. and at the Verna Leith Sawmill Theater in Cook Forest May 26, 27 and 28 at 8 p.m.
According to Director Jessica Haggerty, the play was presented in the same way by the RTP back in May of 1996. “Assistant Director Ed Bach and I went through almost a dozen plays before it was picked,” Haggerty says, “and we wanted something that included a mother-daughter relationship inside the play.”
Paul and Corie Bratter (played by Josh Alderton and LauraGrace Orner) are newlyweds in every sense of the word. He’s a straight-as-an-arrow lawyer and she’s a free spirit always looking for the latest kick.
After a six-day honeymoon, they get a surprise visit from Corie’s loopy mother Ethel (Darla Brunnquell) and decides to play matchmaker during a dinner with their neighbor-in-the-attic Velasco (Brian Hand), where everything that can go wrong, does. Ashley Neiger adds her comic chops as telephone repairperson Mary Pepper.
“Barefoot” was Neil Simon’s longest-running hit, and the tenth longest-running non-musical play in Broadway history running from 1963 to 1967, and was nominated for three 1964 Tony Awards, and Mike Nichols won the award for Best Director.
“While this play was originally set in the ’60s, the themes in it are timeless,” added Haggerty, “We went with the 1980’s, and had a lot of fun with costumes and music! It’s going to be a blast–for us and for our audiences!”
Throughout 2016, all Sunday matinee shows at the Reitz Theater will include sign language interpretation for the hearing-impaired.
Tickets are available for the Reitz Theater shows at Kohlhepp’s True Value Hardware in DuBois, or online at www.reitztheater.com. Cost is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and $5 for children. Tickets for the Sawmill Theater shows are $15, and are available by calling 814-927-5275, or e-mailing at info@sawmill.com.
