February’s installment of First Fridays is sure to be one for the books! Lubeznik Center for the Arts presents new plays by local playwright and Purdue University North Central professor Jerry Holt. LCA has showcased Holt's short plays over the past two years for enthusiastic audiences, and in the process Holt has developed a small but wonderful repertory company including Mary Walton DeBoer, Steve Becker, and Glenn Silver. The doors will open at 5:00 and performances will begin at 6:00. Admission is free for First Fridays at LCA, however, refreshments are available for purchase.
Professor Holt has written two new plays specifically for LCA to be premiered Friday, February 7.
"BAGGED": Michigan City 1939--Valentine's Day---and a hapless crew of Bonnie and Clyde wannabes are stuck with a bag of Letters to Santa they have stolen by mistake. They should put them back in the trash where they found them....But then they start READING the letters.....
"LOOSE ENDS": Three middle-aged siblings sort through the belongings of the late father they never really knew and discover.......A letter from an unidentified woman, a pressed flower, and a room key to the Palmer House, vintage 1978. What memory has Dad clung to that he never shared? A little mystery, a little comedy--and some dark truths about family and the nature of love.
Wine, snacks--and two plays that will make you laugh and maybe--just maybe--give your heart a tug. It's all at LCA, on First Friday February 7!
Actor Bios:
Steven Becker
Steven Becker has been involved in regional theater for more than 40 years, and has performed in more than 250 productions from Wilmington, NC through Cincinnati, OH and into Chicagoland. He has had the opportunity to portray characters as varied as Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd and Pseudolus in A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Of course, his favorite role is that of husband to the most talented Shannon Becker and his incredible sons, Steven and Patrick. Among his many talents, Steven is also the founder of the Paint It On Company of Lafayette, Indiana.
Glenn Silver
Glenn Silver is delighted to be part of this year's production. He was previously a slightly pompous Magistrate in Neil Simon's Fools, a very scary man in August: Osage County, a homeless person and a drunken nobleman in Chekov's The Cherry Orchard, and a brow beaten but rebellious husband in God of Carnage. He can often be found at Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso, working at the Swanson Center in Michigan City, and sometimes running as a middle- aged man style with his dog, Naomi.
Mary Walton DeBoer
Mary Walton DeBoer has done a lot of community theatre in NWI over the past ten years. Some of her favorite roles include Blanche in Brighton Beach Memoirs, Lucienne in A Flea in Her Ear, and Mrs. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank. In the legal arena by day, she enjoys playing someone else for a bit while making other people forget about their own troubles. She thanks and adores the two people who put up with her theatrical whims on a daily basis—David and Lindsey.