“THE BOYS NEXT DOOR” MAKES LYRIC DEBUT
Have you met the new neighbors? Norman works in a doughnut shop. He loves sweet pastries and his keys. Lucien P. Smith has the mind of a five-year-old, but imagines that he is able to read and comprehend greater ideas. Arnold is a bit excitable and despite his insecurities and complexes is always ready for a combative conversation. Barry is a schizophrenic, but brilliant nonetheless, and he fantasizes that he is a golf pro. Jack supervises their apartment and has become a sort of father figure to the group.
These are the characters who inhabit Tom Griffin’s touching drama “The Boys Next Door.” This, the second production of the season, is directed by Old Lyric Repertory Company (OLRC) Executive Producer and Artistic Director Colin Johnson. It opens June 14 at the Lyric Theatre, 28 W. Center Street, Logan. Curtain is 8 p.m.
Johnson emphasizes that the play treats these mentally damaged men with sympathetic humor, but its focus is on the emotional plight of the compassionate caregiver as he faces inevitable burnout. It is a work whose contrasting poignancy and hilarity will entertain Lyric audiences, says Johnson. And though the play is very comic, the director advises the public that some material may be considered too intense and unsuitable for children.
Tickets for OLRC performances are available at the USU Spectrum Ticket Office (797- 0305) during business hours (Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) or at the Customer Service Center of the USU Taggart Student Center, room 212 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Tickets may also be purchased at the Lyric box office one hour before curtain on performance nights for that evening’s production only. The Lyric box office is also open at 4 p.m. on Saturdays for Saturday performance tickets.
In the role of Jack we find professional Actor’s Equity member Lee Grober who can also be seen in this season’s “Peg O’ My Heart” and, later in the season in “The Lion in Winter.”
Returning to the Lyric stage in the role of Arnold is Ron King, whose previous credits with OLRC include Mr. Jenkins in “Cash on Delivery” and Mr. Frank in “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
Sharing the apartment with Arnold is Barry, played by Steven Fehr. He was seen last summer in the OLRC productions of “Blood Brothers” and “Wait Until Dark.”
Another member of the household is returning OLRC member Phillip R. Lowe as Norman. Lowe has been seen previously in the OLRC productions “Blood Brothers” and “The Sunshine Boys.”
Completing the group is Duane Finley as Lucien P. Smith. Finley is not only making his OLRC debut, but his stage debut. He made his acting debut last year in the Paramount Pictures release “The Wood.”
OLRC member and department graduate Arika Schockmel brings the role of Sheila to the stage. She can also be seen in the OLRC production of “Peg O’ My Heart” and “Pump Boys and Dinettes.”
Rounding out the cast are professional Actor’s Equity member Joan Mullaney as Mrs. Fremus, Mrs. Warren and Clara; Jon Savage as Mr. Hedges, Mr. Corbin and Senator Clarke; and Michael Flood as Mr. Klemper.
“The Boys Next Door” opens Thursday, June 14, with additional performances June 15, 16, 23, July 14, 20 and 26. Evening performances begin at 8 p.m. and each play in the summer season includes a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee performance. The matinee of “The Boys Next Door” is July 14. Opening soon at the Lyric is the musical “Pump Boys and Dinettes” by Jack Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann, followed later in the season by James Goldman’s “The Lion in Winter.” The Old Lyric Repertory Company is a production program for advanced students in the Department of Theatre Arts at Utah State University and is supported by grants from the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation, George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, Emma Eccles Jones Foundation, Balleine Supporting Organization, Utah Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, City of Logan, Anne Kennedy Roskelley Memorial Endowment, Dr. Ezekial R. and Edna Wattis Dumke Endowment, and the Utah Arts Council. Group sales, tours and specialty lectures can be arranged by calling (435) 797-1500.