
WINTER COMEDY
Brighton Beach Memoirs
an adult comedy
by Neil Simon
Directed by Katherine Diane Johns
Performance Dates are
March 11, 12, 19, 2010
performance only 8 pm
March 13 & 20, 2010
Dinner/performance 6pm
at the
Gladwin Community Building
(City Park entrance)
This is part one of Neil Simon's autobiographical trilogy. In this portrait of the writer as a young teen, in 1937 living with his family in a crowded, lower middle-class Brooklyn walk-up. Eugene Jerome, standing in for the author, is the narrator and central character. Dreaming of baseball and girls, Eugene must cope with the mundane existence of his family life in Brooklyn: formidable mother, overworked father, and his very worldly older brother Stanley. Throw into the mix his widowed Aunt Blanche, her two young (but rapidly aging) daughters and you have a recipe for hilarity, served up Simon-style. This bittersweet memoir evocatively captures the life of a struggling Jewish household where, as his father states
"if you didn't have a problem, you wouldn't be living here."
Brighton beach Memoirs won Tony Awards for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director along with Theatre World Award, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play(nominee) Drama desk Award for Outstanding actor in a Play(nominee) New York drama Critics' Circle Award.
GAFT is very excited to have a new director heading up this production. Katherine Diane Johns comes to GAFT from Harrison, she studied Theatre Arts at Alma College and was recently in MMCC-On Golden Pond. Katherine has a vast amount of experience in the theatre and we are excited to have her share her talents with us.

For more information contact
Nicole at (989) 426-5571