Theater Barn’s Capital Campaign Will Begin With Comedy

RIDGEFIELD — Native Ridgefieldian Paul Stroili will perform his award-winning one-man comedy, Straight Up With A Twist, to benefit The Ridgefield Theater Barn on November 5-7.  These benefit performances will kick off fundraising efforts for capital improvements to the theater facility.

Plans include an addition to the front of the theater to include an indoor box office and lobby space as well as handicapped accessible restroom facilities on the theater level.

Written and performed by the talented, sophisticated Mr Stroili, who graduated from Ridgefield High School in 1982, Straight Up is a self-effacing, autobiographical exploration into his identity. Mr Stroili describes himself as a blend of Tim Allen and Woody Allen, Felix Unger and Frasier Crane.

Mr Stroili simply is attracted to “the wrong things:” the subtle distinction between midnight and cobalt blue; the ingredients of (and differences between) flan and crème brulee, and how to fold a fitted sheet.

“The world is a cruel place,” he laments, “when you’re a heterosexual with good taste and a great eye for color.”

Straight Up With A Twist is Mr Stroili’s exploration of his past in order to explain (always through humor) his confused, conflicted present. Audiences travel with him as he hilariously embodies the characters in his vibrant life, including his German mother Charlotte, who chain smokes while bewailing the mixed nature of her obsessive-compulsive son; his Italian father Bruno, who tries to engage his son in “man things”; and his second grade teacher who, having thanked the 10-year-old for bringing rolls in for the class, is corrected by Mr Stroili:  “They’re not rolls, they’re baguettes.”

Named one of the Top Ten Shows of the Year in Los Angeles, the show received an OC Weekly award and was nominated for two LA Weekly awards, including Best Solo Performance of the Year.  Critics have hailed the show as engaging, thoughtful, and a laugh-a-second with a performance of impeccable comic timing and outstanding acting in a brilliantly written show.

Straight Up With A Twist will run Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm, and Sunday afternoon at 3.

The performances will be at Ridgefield Theater Barn, 37 Halpin Lane.

All tickets are $25 and seating is cabaret style. Doors open one hour before the show and the audience invited to bring its own food and refreshments. For reservations and more information call 203-431-9850 or visit www.TheaterBarn.org.