Island City Stage Opens 5th Season with PERECT ARRANGEMENT

Island City Stage opens it's fifth season with the regional premiere of Topher Payne's "Perfect Arrangement" which The New York Times heralded as a "clever canape of comedy" during its premiere Off-Broadway last fall at Primary Stages, the same company that will be producing Michael McKeever's play "Daniel's Husband" this coming Spring which had its world premiere at Island City Stage.

It's 1950 and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. Two U.S. State Department employees, Bob and Norma, have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. The twist: Both Bob and Norma are gay, and have married each other's partners as a carefully constructed cover. Inspired by the true story of the earliest stirrings of the American gay rights movement, madcap "I Love Lucy" sitcom-style laughs give way to provocative drama as two "All-American" couples are forced to stare down the closet door, confronting the very struggles facing society today.

"What I love about this play is how Topher Payne takes the classic 50's sitcom and uses its conventions to reveal the darker truths of the era", commented Island City Stage Artistic Director Andy Rogow. "Imagine 'I Love Lucy' but with Lucy and Ethel as a couple and Fred and Ricky as a couple. It's both extremely funny and dramatically powerful. It also gives our designers the opportunity to go to town creating period costumes and settings."

The two couples are portrayed by Erynn Dalton, Arlette Del Toro, Daniel Capote and Matthew Stuart Jackson. Joining them are the boss and his wife played by Troy Stanley and Christina Groom and the mysterious and sultry sophisticate played by Kim Ostrenko.

The design team welcomes the addition of lighting designer Ardean Landhuis to the award winning team of set designer Michael McClain, Sound Designer David Hart and costume designer Peter Lovello. Wigs are being designed by Emmy nominee Jerry Popolis.

"Perfect Arrangement" previews on Nov. 10, with a special donor opening on the 11th and Carbonell and Press opening on Nov. 12th. It runs through Dec. 11 with performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 5pm at our home at 2304 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. Tickets can be ordered online at islandcitystage.org or by calling 954-519-2533.

PHOTO BY GEORGE WENTZLER

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