[NEohioPAL] Aurora's 'Foreigner' fun, witty voyage for audience

[ACT Business Office]

  /*(Record Publishing "Happenings" section 2/7 - 2/10/10)*/


    'Foreigner' fun, witty voyage for audience

by April Helms

Special Products Editor

The staging of Aurora Community Theatre's "The Foreigner" by Larry Shue 
also served as a sort of a homecoming for its director, Aurora resident 
Roseann Canfora.

Canfora, who was resident director at the theater from 1989 to 1996, 
said she was invited to come back to direct the comedy, for the 
theater's 50th anniversary season. Canfora said she had been hesitant at 
first because of her busy schedule, but added that directing this show 
was delightful.

"This is the most professional cast I've ever worked with in community 
theater," Canfora said. "I come into the theater for rehearsals and 
laugh the entire time at the wit and comedy. But I also can't think of a 
more relevant time than now to share Larry Shue's message of tolerance 
and his distaste for xenophobia, bigotry and prejudice."

The sell-out crowd on opening night Jan. 29 seemed to enjoy the show, 
which centers on a painfully shy man's pretending to be a foreigner who 
can't speak English so he will be left alone -- but winds up involved in 
the lives of those affiliated with a Georgia fishing lodge.

"I thought it was really good," said Donna Griesmer of Canfield. "I 
thought it was funny. The performers were excellent."

John Walsh, who brought his 10-year-old daughter Sara, agreed.

"We couldn't stop laughing," Walsh said. "We couldn't see the acting, 
which is a good thing. It was so natural, seemless."

In the play, Froggy LeSueur (played by Jack Warren) has traveled to 
Georgia on business and has invited his close friend Charlie (played by 
Alex Nine) on the trip so he can take a much-needed vacation. They stop 
in a rustic fishing lodge owned by Betty (played by Jenifer Warren), 
another friend of Froggy's. The problem is that Charlie is terrified of 
holding a conversation with strangers, so Froggy hatches the idea that 
Charlie is a visitor from another country who doesn't understand 
English. The idea is so people will leave the shy Charlie alone, but 
this backfires in amusing ways. Betty, who has felt down-in-the dumps, 
is thrilled to have an exotic guest at her lodge and dotes on him like a 
mother hen. Catherine (played by Brenda Redmond), who is engaged to be 
married, shares her frustrations with Charlie, comfortable with the 
knowledge her new confidant can't understand a word she is saying. 
Catherine's younger brother Ellard (played by Chris Putnam), regarded as 
dim by the others, takes it upon himself to teach Charlie English, which 
provides some of the sweetest moments in the show.

Not everyone is thrilled to have a foreigner in their midst, however. 
Owen (played by Gary Bakst) has his own designs for Betty's lodge: he 
wants to buy it cheap and turn it into the new headquarters for the Ku 
Klux Klan. Catherine's fiance David is surreptitiously helping Owen, 
hoping to secure his marriage to Catherine to get his hands on her 
sizable inheritance.

Ticket and show information

"The Foreigner" runs through Feb. 20.

Tickets are $16 for adults, $11 for youth 18 and under, and are 
available online at www.auroracommmunitytheatre.com, or through the box 
office at 330-562-1818. Group discounts are also available by calling 
the box office.

The theater is at 115 E. Pioneer Trail in Aurora.

Next on stage

Aurora Community Theatre will next produce "The Music Man," which will 
open April 16 and run through May 8.

Theater renovation project

The theater is currently raising funds for improved lighting, sound and 
theater seating. To raise money for the capital campaign, ACT is selling 
raffle tickets for a History of ACT quilt. The theater also is selling 
brick plaques, to be placed in the lobby. For details, call the theater 
or visit ACT's Web site.

E-mail: ahelms at recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3153


-- 
Christine Patronik-Holder
Business and Marketing Manager
Aurora Community Theatre
P.O. Box 9
115 E. Pioneer Trail
Aurora, Ohio 44202
330-562-1818
christine at auroracommunitytheatre.com
www.auroracommunitytheatre.com


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