BrightSide Theatre Presents THE DINNER PARTY, Opens 3/2

BrightSide Theatre continues their inaugural season with, "The Dinner Party" by Neil Simon. He has been awarded with Academy and Tony nominations, and is the only playwright to have four Broadway productions running simultaneously. 

About the show: "The Dinner Party" is a decidedly posh dinner party served up in a chaotic mode that only the master of comedy could create. Five people are invited to dine at a first rate restaurant in Paris. They do not know who the other guests will be or why they have been invited. Tossed together in a private dining room, they have a sneaking suspicion that this unorthodox dinner party will forever change their lives. The evening is filled with playful antics, sudden zaniness and masterful comic dialogue as the mystery unfolds.

WHERE: Downtown Historic Naperville at the Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville, IL 60540. Ample parking is available around North Central College. Please observe all municipal street signs.

WHEN: Opening on Friday, March 2, 2012 8 p.m. (reception following)

Closes on Sunday, March 18, 2012 3 p.m.

Runs Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m.

TICKETS: Publish this number: 630-637-SHOW (7469),

Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall at North Central College

$22 for all regular performances

$18 for Seniors (62+) and Students w/School ID

$16 for Groups of 10 or more

About Brightside Theatre's charity: As a way to positively impact Naperville and its surrounding communities, BrightSide Theatre is looking to its patrons to help support Loaves and Fishes of Naperville. Loaves & Fishes Community Pantry is ending hunger in DuPage County and all of Naperville by providing food and offering on-site programs to empower their clients toward achieving financial stability and improving their quality of life. Loaves & Fishes gives out an average of 60,000 pounds of groceries each week. In 2011, Loaves & Fishes served 14,832 individuals or 3,887 households.

Those who bring in a non-perishable food item or make a monetary donation for Loaves and Fishes will be given a raffle ticket with the chance to win a pair of tickets to BrightSide Theatre's final show of their inaugural season, "My Way: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra" Conceived by David Grapes and Todd Olson - Book by Todd Olson. A pair of tickets will be given out at each performance.

STAFF: Neil Simon (Playwright), Derek Bertelsen (Director), Becky Robbins (Stage Manager), Erin Knott (Scenic/Lighting Design), Lindsay Schmeling (Costume Design), Peggy Jensen (Assistant Stage Manager), and Miguel Garcia (Technical Director)

CAST: Julie Bayer (Yvonne), Ken Kaden (Claude), Julie Ann Kornak (Mariette)- all of NAPERVILLE, Ed Lester (Albert) of Carol Stream, Will Nifong (Andre) of Chicago, Mary K. Nigohosian (Gabrielle) of Batavia

BIOS: Neil Simon (Playwright) He has had dozens of plays and nearly as many major motion pictures produced. Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Come Blow Your Horn, Little Me, They're Playing our Song, Sweet Charity, Promises, Promises, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Rumors, Lost in Yonkers are just a few of his blockbuster hits that have been produced in dozens of languages, from Beijing to Moscow.

Throughout his six plus-decade career, Simon has drawn extensively on his own life and experience for materials for his plays. Neil Simon has for over sixty years invigorated the stage with touching stories and zany characters, but possibly his greatest contribution has been the ability to create humor from the lives and troubles of everyday people. It has been said that Neil has the ability to write characters - even the leading characters that we're supposed to root for - that are absolutely flawed. They have foibles. They have faults. But, they are human beings. They are not all bad or all good; they are people we know. This holds truest of his work The Dinner Party where he brilliantly gives the audience the gift to help us be able to see - and laugh at - ourselves in such a universal and yet intimately personal way.

Derek Bertelsen (Director) Recent credits include directing the Iowa premiere of God of Carnage and assistant directing Race at the Goodman Theatre. Other favorite directing credits include: The Glass Menagerie, Assassins, August: Osage County and Red Herring. Upcoming: Doubt (AstonRep, Chicago) and Boeing Boeing (Timber Lake Playhouse, Mt. Carroll IL).

MISSION: BrightSide Theatre is committed to Enlighten, Educate, and Entertain through comedies and inspirational stories from across the globe. A unique blend of award-winners, premieres, modern works and timeless classics meant to reflect upon and inform our community will inhabit BrightSide's stage.

INFO: BrightSide Theater, 630-447-8497

info@BrightSideTheatre.com www.BrightSideTheatre.com

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