Portage Community Theatre (PCT) will present Joe DiPietro’s off-Broadway hit, Over the River and through the Woods, a touching yet hilarious comedy, June 8-23, 2012 at the Portage Yacht Club, 1370 State Hwy 249, Portage, IN. Call the Portage Community Theatre at 219-759-1408 for more information.
A wonderful family comedy, Over the River… is a play about real people. Nick is a young, single Italian-American man who dutifully has dinner with his grandparents every Sunday. He struggles to find the right moment to announce a great career move to his grandparents. It is not an easy choice for Nick, whose entire life has been spent in the bosom of this family. His grandparents on both sides have been lifelong friends and neighbors for whom Sunday dinner is a sacred ritual spent in the house of Aida and Frank, with grandparents Emma and Nunzio as guests. When Nick summons up the courage to tell his family that the new position is in Seattle, across the country from this ancestral home, the stage is set for their ingenious counter plan in the form of an appetizing dinner guest, Caitlin O’Hare. The tug between new frontiers and traditional roles plays itself out against the background of love, laughter and lasagna.
Directed by Stanlee K. Hodsden, this production features a richly talented cast that includes Earl Howe of Lansing, IL as Frank; LuAnne Pezel of Portage as Aida; Kathy Rosdil of Crown Point as Emma; Dean Perrine of Chesterton as Nick; Kevin Doler of Chesterton as Nunzio; and Adrian Brizzolara of Portage as Caitlin.
Over the River and Through the Woods, first produced in 1994, has proved popular with audiences in New York and at regional theaters throughout the country. Reviewers at ChicagoCritic.com said, “With some sentimentality, a lot of humor and a dash of nostalgia,‘Over The River…’ is a sweet, charming play that makes us feel good,” while Backstage magazine called the script “A hilarious family comedy.”
“{This show} is one of those shows that makes an audience feel good from curtain until well after they leave the theater,” says Director and PCT President Stanlee Hodsden. “It has a crisp, funny script that provides plenty of laughs, but it also has a warm touch that provides solid entertainment for the whole family.”
Performances are on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. There will be one Thursday night performance June 21, curtain at 7 p.m. PCT encourages patrons to make reservations early as performances sell out quickly. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for students, seniors and active military personnel. A $1 discount per ticket will be offered to all patrons purchasing their tickets at the door who bring some sort of “Italian” non-perishable canned or boxed food item to the performance to donate to local food pantries.
“Food plays such an integral part in the plot of this show,” says Mathew Byerly, PCT Marketing Chair. “We saw a way that we could offer both enjoyable entertainment and community service.”
For reservations, call the PCT box-office at 219-759-1408 or visit our website at http://www.portagecommunitytheatre.com to purchase tickets online.