Regional Premiere of LAST GAS Opens Tonight at Chenango River Theatre

Featuring a cast of unusual, but absolutely authentic, American characters, Last Gas is a new comedy that theatres around the country are already fighting over to get the rights to produce. Chenango River Theatre is proud to be one of the first in the country to showcase this snappy new comedy. How new is the script? So new it's not even published yet. Author John Cariani, currently starring in the Broadway musical Something Rotten, has been sending script revisions to CRT's cast on a regular basis as he fine tunes the script for productions around the country.

If it's anything like Almost, Maine, Cariani's massive previous hit, audiences will flock to it. Five years after CRT produced Almost, Maine, that comedy (which was somewhat adult in nature) is now the single most produced show in the country at the high school level, surpassing Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Last Gas is also set in Maine, Cariani's birth home. In fact, it's in far northern Maine, only 41 miles from the Canadian border. Last Gas refers to it being the last gas station, phone and convenience store before the border. It's a little family run store, not one of those chain places. And there's nothing conventional about this family, either.

On the eve of his birthday, Nat's old high school flame returns for her mother's burial (she died months before, but the ground was too frozen to bury her!), and walks into the convenience store Nat and his dad run. Suddenly, Nat comes face to face with a chance to "get back to happy." Then Nat's best friend shows up with the birthday gift of a lifetime - tickets to Red Sox vs. Yankees. Add in Nat's father Dwight, who likes his girls young and Canadian, plus his son's mother Cherry-Tracy, who also happens to be the region's forest ranger, and you've got a cast of delightful characters putting their noses into Nat's business.

The cast is gathered from the extreme four corners of the country. Jim Wicker (Florida) plays Dwight, the randy grandfather; Josh Carlton (Oregon) plays Guy, Nat's best friend since high school; Traci Crouch (Los Angeles, BUT also a former Chenango County Dairy Maid!) plays Lu, Nat's old high school flame; and director Kent Burnham was born in Maine and now teaches and directs theatre in Arizona. Rounding out the cast is Dana Dimon (NYC), playing the mother of Nat's son; Josh Sedelmeyer (Binghamton) playing Nat's son, Troy. And long-time CRT favorite Drew Kahl plays the suffering Nat, torn between so many unspoken passions in his life.

Last Gas is co-produced by IBM, Chobani Greek Yogurt and Esteban Fuertes & Alan Foster. Chenango River Theatre's 2016 season is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Performances run tonight, July 8, through July 31, Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., plus Sunday matinees at 2 pm. Tickets can now be purchased online at www.chenangorivertheatre.org, or by emailing tickets@chenangorivertheatre.org. You can also make reservations 24 hours a day by voice mail at 607-656-8499.

Individual tickets are $22 Thursday, $23 Friday, $25 Saturday and $23 Sunday. Half price for college students and those under 18. All performances start on time - late seating is not available.

Chenango River is just 15 minutes north of Binghamton at 991 State Highway 12, Greene, NY. CRT features professional actors in every production - the same actors you see on television, in film and at major theatres across the country.

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