Brighton Beach Memoirs

ACT season opens with "Brighton Beach Memoirs"

Altoona Community Theatre will open its 2009-2010 production season with Neil Simon's nostalgic comedy "Brighton Beach Memoirs" for four performances September 24 to 27 in The Historic Mishler Theatre. Corporate Sponsor for the show is Altoona First Savings Bank.

"Brighton Beach Memoirs" is Simon's semi-autobiographical coming-of-age recollection from 1937 living in a crowded Jewish household in a lower-middle-class walkup in Brooklyn. The show opened on Broadway in 1984, introducing Matthew Broderick to audiences in the lead role for which he won a Best Featured Actor Tony Award. A Broadway revival will open in October and run in repertory with Simon's "Broadway Bound."

Leading the cast as young Eugene Morris Jerome, a 15-year-old obsessed with girls and baseball, is Jordan Miller of Altoona. A 9th-grader at Altoona Area Junior High School, Jordan is making his ACT debut in the show. Cast as his slightly-more-worldly older brother Stanley is Cory Jones of Altoona. Previously seen in ACT's productions of "The Man Who Came to Dinner," "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "The Sound of Music," Cory most recently directed "Annie Warbucks" at Cresson Lake Playhouse.

Kate Kale Wolf of Ebensburg plays Kate Jerome, the boys' warm-hearted but formidable mother and Rich Volpe of Altoona plays Jack Jerome, their hard-working father. In addition to acting in ACT's "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean," "Noises Off" and "Steel Magnolias," among others, Wolf has directed "Crimes of the Heart" and "The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged)" for ACT and will direct "The Producers" later this season. Volpe's ACT roles include Detective Abe Van Helsing in "Dracula: The Curse of the Silver Scream" and Oscar Madison in "The Odd Couple," and he appeared in "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" at Penn State Altoona.

Lois Kaneshiki of Altoona, last seen with ACT as Sarah in "Company," plays Blanche Morton, the boys' aunt who lives in her sister's home with her daughters Nora (Lisa Balasco of Altoona) and Laurie (Laken McKeel of Ebensburg). Balasco is a senior at Bishop Guilfoyle High School who has worked backstage on a number of ACT Shows and appeared in "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "The Purple Fan." McKeel, making her ACT debut, has performed previously with Cresson Lake Playhouse.

Tickets for "Brighton Beach Memoirs" are $15 each (plus box office fee) and can be obtained by calling the Mishler Theatre between 12 Noon and 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at 814-944-9434.

Also available are season subscriptions at $52 which include tickets for the holiday favorite "Miracle on 34th Street" in November, Edward Albee's drama "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in February and Mel Brook's hit musical "The Producers" in April.