Brighton Beach Memoirs Opens July 6

At The Little Theatre

Brighton Beach Memoirs, the semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, opens July 6 at The Little Theatre.

Town Players of Newtown will be presenting the coming-of-age comedy that focuses on Eugene Jerome (being played by Evan Thompson, Mamaroneck, N.Y.), a Jewish teen growing up in 1937 Brooklyn, as he experiences puberty, sexual awakening and a search for identity as he deals with his family.

Part of what has made the play so popular since its debut in 1983 is its depiction of the daily life of closely packed relatives who keep getting under one another’s feet — and on each other’s nerves — while still maintaining a close, loving bond. All crowded under one roof are Eugene, his 18-year-old brother Stanley (Kellan Peavy, Manhattan), and their parents Kate (Marla Manning of Easton) and Jack (Steve Yudelson of Newtown), along with Kate’s widowed sister Blanche Morton (Elizabeth Young of Newtown) and her daughters: the Broadway-bound Nora (Jacqueline Rowland of Woodbury) and frail Laurie (Leah Nashel, also of Newtown).

The LA Times said Brighton Beach Memoirs “embraces hilarity and family solidarity as counter to global uncertainty and economic duress.”

The Newtown production is being directed by Lester Colodny of Fairfield. The production crew consists of producers Tim Huebenthal (Southbury) and Nick Kaye (Bethel), who also serve as the production’s set and lighting design crew, and stage manager Lynn Alexander (Southbury).

Performances will run Friday and Saturday evenings, July 6-29, with Sunday matinees scheduled on July 15 and 29. Curtain times are 8 pm Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 pm on Sundays.

Tickets are $20, $15 for matinee performances, and $10 children 10 and under.

Reservations may be made by calling the box office at 203-270-9144.

For further information, visit www.newtownplayers.org or email info@newtownplayers.org.

Town Players of Newtown is a community theater, currently in its 77th season. The Players offer performances at The Little Theatre, at 18 Orchard Hill Road, just off Route 25 (a mile north of Sand Hill Plaza) in Newtown.