Middlebury Actors Workshop's GREATER TUNA Begins Tonight

Middlebury Actors Workshop, a small professional ensemble in residence at Town Hall Theater, announces its 15th Anniversary summer production of Greater Tuna, starring founding members Steve Small and Harry McEnerny. The production will run tonight, July 23 - 26 & July 30 - Aug. 2 at A.R.T.'s black box theater.

A two-man, twenty character, quick change tour de force, Greater Tuna is a hilarious send-up of small town morals and mores in Tuna, the third smallest town in Texas, where the Lion's Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies.

Vermont's finest comedic duo, Steve Small and Harry McEnerny delighted audiences in past MAW productions such as Lone Star, Speed-The-Plow and Of Mice and Men. They return to the stage as the eclectic citizens of Tuna, Texas, - men, women, children and animals- in Greater Tuna, by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears & Ed Howard.

Steve Small is the first recipient of the Herb Lockwood Excellence in Arts Award. Artistic Director Melissa Lourie calls Steve a "highly respected actor known for his enormous range, playing roles from the tragic Big Daddy in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, to brilliant comedic characters like Roy in Lone Star." Harry McEnerny, chair of the Theater Dept. at Castleton State College, is a "gifted actor with exquisite comic timing and has also played a wide range of characters for MAW," says Melissa.

Artistic Director Melissa Lourie directs this long-running Off-Broadway hit. Lourie says, "In honor of our 15th Anniversary, we're going Off Broadway too, to the intimate A.R.T. black box theater at the Patricia Hannaford Career Center where we had our start. There's not a bad seat in the house, and the theater is fully air-conditioned. So come on down y'all and have a barrel of laughs!"

The show runs July 23 - 26 & July 30 - Aug. 2, Thursday through Saturday at 8pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. Greater Tuna is at the A.R.T. black box theater at the Patricia Hannaford Career Center, 51 Charles Ave Middlebury, VT. Tickets will be sold through the Town Hall Theater Box Office: 382-9222 or townhalltheater.org. Tickets also available at the door at the A.R.T. black box theater.