EARTh Presents THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER 12/13

Tired yet of candy canes, plum pudding, and sugar plums?
If so, come taste EARTh's a-typical Holiday fare- Kaufman & Hart's THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER, Monday night, December 13th, at St. Teresa's Academy.

ABOUT THE PRESENTATION:

EARTh (Equity Actors' Readers' Theatre) in association with KCYA (Kansas City Young Audiences) announces the second presentation in EARTh's Inaugural Series-Kaufman & Hart's hilarious comedy, THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER.
The concert-style stage reading will be performed one night only at 7:30PM, Monday, December 13, in the auditorium of the Music and Art Building at St. Teresa's Academy, 5601 Wyandotte Street, Kansas City, MO. Admission is free, although donations are encouraged.

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER, a classic of 20th Century comedy, was written

in 1939 by the Pulitzer Prize-winning team, George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart as a tribute to (and to poke some good-natured fun at) their friend-and fellow Algonquin Round Table participant-Alexander Woollcott. To create a Woollcott today, one would need two parts of Rush Limbaugh's media manipulations, two parts Andy Rooney's curmudgeonly blather, one part Simon Cowell's "warmth and charm," and a dash of Garrison Keillor's occasional nostalgic musings.

The play is set in small-town Mesalia, Ohio, just before Christmas. While in town on one of his famous lecture tours, the Woollcott-like SheriDan Whiteside is invited to dinner in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Ernest W. Stanley. When leaving, Whiteside slips on a patch of ice on their front porch, injures his hip, and, subsequently-while convalescing-completely takes over the Stanley's home and turns their lives topsy-turvy. He runs up their phone bill with transatlantic calls; he receives any of any number of odd get-well gifts (a crate of penguins, an Egyptian mummy case, a live octopus!); he is visited by the great and near great who stop by to wish him well or to dine with him at a moment's notice. All goes well for Whiteside-as long as he gets his way. But when his personal secretary falls in love with the local newspaperman and decides she wants to leave Whiteside's employ and stay in Ohio, all...heck breaks lose, just in time for the holidays.
As with all EARTh presentations, the company features-exclusively-Kansas City-area professional Theatre Artists. This cast includes (in alphabetical order): Jeannie Averill, Diane Bulan, Anthony J. Bernall, Sam Cordes, Martin English, Kevin Fewell, Phil Fiorini, Laurie J. Hamilton, Darren Kennedy, David Kiehl, Melinda McCrary, Addison Myers, Tosin Morohunfola, John Rensenhouse, Cynthia Rider, Stuart Rider, Cinnamon Schultz, Emily Shackelford, Brad Shaw, Julie Shaw, Sylvia Stoner, Heidi Van, and Bill Warren-with Patrick DuLaney as SheriDan Whiteside. Doug Weaver directs, with Jim Mitchell as Production Stage Manager.

The first reading in EARTh's Inaugural Series was Jean Giraudoux's 1945 comic fantasy THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT, presented October 11. Upcoming readings are Nikolai Gogol's THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR (February 21, 2011) and Paddy Chayefsky's GIDEON (April 11, 2011).

The campus of St. Teresa's Academy is between 55th and 57th Streets, between Wornall Road and Brookside Boulevard. Ample free parking is available in the lot accessed from 57th Street between Wyandotte and Main Streets. Patrons are asked to enter the building from the east/campus quad side.

EARTh's readings are presented in association with Kansas City Young Audiences, under the guidelines of the Actors' Equity Association Members' Project Code, with the overview of Equity's Kansas City Area Liaison Committee.

MORE ABOUT EARTh:

In the Spring of 2010, EARTh (Equity Actors' Readers' Theatre) was created to give the extraordinarily talented members of Kansas City's professional theatre community the opportunity to work with their peers on exciting roles in magnificent plays that are often under-produced because the cast size is too large, or there are too many acts, or too many sets. Whatever the reason, these challenging plays don't get heard often enough.
EARTh was determined to feature Kansas City-area Members of Actors' Equity Association (AEA)-the Union of professional Actors and Stage Managers-as well as AEA Member Candidates. A commitment has been made to insure that at least 75% of each EARTh cast will be AEA Members and Candidates. Therefore, it was decided to present its concert-style stage readings on Monday nights-a theatre's "dark night"-when performances are rarely scheduled. EARTh can, therefore, access the cream of the (KC theatre community) crop-even while actors and stage managers are otherwise employed at other local theatres.

All of EARTh's presentations are being performed under AEA's Member's Project Code. Therefore, no admission can be charged-there are no ticket sales. Instead, donations are accepted (and welcome); and, then, by rule, all of these collected moneys must be shared equally among all of the Equity Members and Candidates in the Company of any given EARTh presentation.

In addition to the "admission" donations, however, contributions are also sought, to help defray the (inevitable) numerous expenses of putting on each presentation (paying for production Rights; purchasing scripts; photo-enlarging and duplicating scripts; paying for the rental of the hall, printing programs, etc., etc.). To help underwrite EARTh presentations and to insure their continuance, those individuals or institutions who wish to become EARTh Sponsors/Partners/ Contributors should write Kip Niven at earthinfo@gmail.com. You will be contacted. Your support will be graciously received.

 

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