Northlight Theatre presents Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon Directed by Devon de Mayo May 2 – June 8, 2014
Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon, directed by Devon de Mayo. The production will run at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie, from May 2 – June 8, 2014.
This nostalgic memory play takes us back to the summer of 1942 – WWII is on, and Eddie, flat broke, has no alternative but to leave his sons with their grandmother while he struggles to pay off his debts. The boys are left to contend with an ill-tempered Grandma, the sweet but damaged Aunt Bella, and Uncle Louis, a small-time hoodlum in a strange new world called Yonkers.
Artistic Director BJ Jones comments, “In keeping with our tradition of matching fresh young talent with American Classics, we are thrilled to welcome Devon de Mayo as director of the Pulitzer Prize winning Lost in Yonkers.”
The cast of Lost in Yonkers includes Anne Fogarty (Gert), Erik Hellman (Louie), Timothy Edward Kane (Eddie), Linsey Page Morton (Bella), Alistair Sewell (Jay), Sebastian W. Weigman (Arty) and Ann Whitney (Grandma Kurnitz).
The creative team includes Grant Sabin (scenic), Rachel Lartiz (costumes), Lee Keenan(lighting), Nick Keenan (sound), Sarah Burnham (props) and Eva Breneman (dialect coach). Rita Vreeland is the stage manager.
Neil Simon (Playwright) is an American playwright and screenwriter widely regarded as one of the most successful, prolific, and performed playwrights in the world. Mr. Simon is the recipient of numerous awards for his work, including the Pulitzer Prize (Lost In Yonkers), Tony Awards (The Odd Couple, Biloxi Blues, Lost In Yonkers, and a special Tony Award For Overall Contribution to the Theatre), Emmy Awards (The Sid Caesar Show and The Phil Silvers Show), and Writers Guild Screen Awards (The Odd Couple and The Out-Of-Towners). Nominations: Tonys (Little Me, Barefoot in the Park, Plaza Suite, Promises, Promises, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, Lost in Yonkers, and the musical The Goodbye Girl), a Writers Guild Laurel Award, an American Comedy Award for Lifetime Achievement, a Writers Guild Screen Award (Barefoot in the Park), an Oscar (The Odd Couple), an Evening Standard, a Sam S. Shubert Foundation Award, Kennedy Center Honors, a UCLA Medal, a Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, and a William Inge Theater Festival award for Distinguished Achievement in the American Theater. Simon is the author of plays and musicals, including Come Blow Your Horn, Sweet Charity,The Star-Spangled Girl, Plaza Suite, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, The Sunshine Boys,Rumors, Jake’s Women, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, London Suite, Proposals, and The Dinner Party, among others. Select screenwriting credits: The Cheap Detective, Seems Like Old Times, Murder by Death, and The Star-Spangled Girl, and others, including film adaptations of many of his plays. Select television credits: The Tallulah Bankhead Show and ABC’sBroadway Bound.
Devon de Mayo (Director) is directing at Northlight after serving as the theatre’s Director of Education for more than five years. Directing credits: Compulsion and Everything is Illuminated (Next); An Actor Prepares (Logan Center); Roadkill Confidential, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, Clouds (Dog & Pony); Infiltrating Bounce (Luminaria, San Antonio); and 52 (Canal Café, London). Directing & Devising credits: Guerra: A Clown Play(performances in Chicago, New York, Albuquerque, Madrid, Bogota, and Mexico City); The Whole World is Watching, As Told by the Vivian Girls (Dog & Pony), and The Twins Would Like to Say (Dog & Pony, Steppenwolf Garage Rep). She is the co-artistic director of Dog & Pony Theatre Co and received her MFA in Directing from Middlesex University in London.
Anne Fogarty (Gert) is making her Northlight debut. She recently appeared in Lookingglass’s revival of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses (Jeff Nomination – Best Ensemble) as Aphrodite, a role she also played in the original production. Chicago credits include Smokefall (Goodman); The Real Thing, Holiday, and Man and Superman (Remy Bumppo); Summertime and The Idiot (Lookingglass); The Glamour House (Victory Gardens); and Oleanna (Chicago Dramatists). Regional credits include Metamorphoses at Hartford Stage, Missouri Repertory, Cincinnati Playhouse, and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Mary Zimmerman’s The Secret in the Wings at Berkeley Rep, McCarter Theatre, and Seattle Rep; Side Man, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Hauptmann at Madison Repertory; andThe Turn of the Screw at Illusion Theatre in Minneapolis.
Erik Hellman (Louie) makes his Northlight debut in Lost in Yonkers. Recent productions include Luna Gale at Goodman and Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, and Proof (Jeff Award Nomination – Supporting Actor) at Court. Other Chicago credits include The Comedy of Errors, The Mystery of Irma Vep (Jeff Award Nomination – Lead Actor), Titus Andronicus, andArcadia (Court); Eastland (Lookingglass); Hesperia (Writers); The Madness of King George III, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, and Edward II (Chicago Shakespeare); Honest, The Elephant Man, and Huck Finn (Steppenwolf); All My Sons (TimeLine); as well as shows at Next, Chicago Dramatists, Remy Bumppo, The House Theatre of Chicago, and as a company member of Strawdog. Outside of Chicago, Erik has appeared at Milwaukee Repertory, Geva, Syracuse Stage, Indianapolis Repertory, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Houston’s Stages Repertory, and Off-Broadway at Mirror Repertory. Film/TV work includes The Dark Knight,The Chicago Code, Boss, Betrayal, and as Dr. Alec Willhite on Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.
Timothy Edward Kane (Eddie) returns to Northlight, having previously appeared in The Miser and She Stoops to Conquer. Chicago credits include: An Iliad (2013 & 2011), The Illusion, Wild Duck, Titus Andronicus, Uncle Vanya, The Romance Cycle, and Hamlet (Court);Blood and Gifts (TimeLine); Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Arms and the Man (Writers); The North Plan (Steppenwolf Garage); and more than a dozen productions at Chicago Shakespeare including The Comedy Of Errors, A Flea In Her Ear, andHenry IV Parts 1 & 2 (CST and at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon). Regional credits: The Mark Taper Forum, Notre Dame Shakespeare, Peninsula Players, and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. TV: Chicago Fire. Education: BS, Ball State University; MFA, Northern Illinois University. He is the recipient of a Joseph Jefferson award and an After Dark Award.
Linsey Page Morton (Bella) makes her Northlight debut. Chicago credits include: The Iceman Cometh and Joan Dark presented at the Linz ’09 Festival in Austria (Goodman); The Dresser (Steppenwolf); A Streetcar Named Desire, Another Part of the Forest, Bus Stop (Jeff Award nomination), and Spite for Spite (Writers); and Hannah and Martin and The Crucible(TimeLine). Regionally, Linsey appeared as Lotty Wilson in Enchanted April at Milwaukee Rep. Last fall, she assistant directed TimeLine’s production of The Normal Heart directed by Nick Bowling. Film credits: Joshua, The Quiet, and Freudian Slip. She is a company member and casting director at Pine Box Theater Company.
Alistair Sewell (Jay) makes his first appearance at Northlight in Lost in Yonkers. He resides in Madison, Wisconsin, where he appeared in Forward Theater’s The Farnsworth Invention(Young Philo, Young Sarnoff), Children’s Theater of Madison ‘s And Then They Came for Me(Ed), and Benjamin Brittan’s Turn Of The Screw (Miles) with Madison Opera. Alistair has appeared as soloist with the City of Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, Portland Colombia Symphony, and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Film credits include For the Glory, Into the Wake, The Mourning Hour, The Half of Me That’s Him, and Blame.
Sebastian W. Weigman (Artie) has appeared as Skunk in Mole Hill Stories (First Steps Children’s Theatre); Jack Beggles in The Hundred Dresses, Mike Teavee in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Milwaukee’s Todd Wehr Theatre); as Herman in H.H. Holmes: House of Horror, and Danny in Outliers (Alchemist Theatre). He’s been most recently seen as an Elf in the First Stage/ Emerald City production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at the Broadway Playhouse.
Ann Whitney (Grandma Kurnitz) returns to the Northlight stage again. Ms. Whitney’s last appearance here was as “Big Edie” in Grey Gardens. Before that, she appeared in Quilters,Driving Miss Daisy (Sarah Siddons Leading Lady Award), and the Cripple of Innishman. More recently, she played in Everything is Illuminated at Next and Freshly Fallen Snow (Jeff nominated) at Chicago Dramatists, where she is an artistic associate. Her career has taken her to The Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she played the professor in Wit, Illinois Wesleyan University as a guest artist in The Chalk Garden, Northwestern University inTartuffe, Sacramento Theatre Company in Fossils, and many summers at Wagon Wheel Theatre in Indiana in plays and musicals. Her work in Chicago theatres includes shows at Court, Writers, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Goodman, Marriott Lincolnshire, Steppenwolf, and Victory Gardens.
The Box Office is located at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, in Skokie. Box Office hours are Monday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm, and Saturdays 12:00pm-5:00pm. On performance days, the box office hours are extended through showtime. The Box Office is closed on Sundays, except on performance days when it is open two hours prior to showtime.
Northlight is continuing its popular special event series in conjunction with each production. All events are free for subscribers and ticket holders.
Community Conversations is a series of post-show discussions. Local experts join a Northlight facilitator, engaging audiences in a dialogue about the play’s themes and the creative process behind live theatre! The post-show discussions for Lost in Yonkers will be held on May 4 and 18 after the 2:30 pm performance; May 6 and 7after the 7:30 pm performance; and May 14 and 28 after the 1:00 pm performance.
Backstage with BJ is a mid-day discussion with Artistic Director BJ Jones, featuring special guest artists, actors, directors and designers, offering behind-the-scenes insight into each production while it is still in rehearsal. Backstage with BJ for Lost in Yonkers will be held on April 25 at 12:00pm and will last approximately one hour. Reservations are required, 847.679.9501 x3555 or specialevents@northlight.org.
Salon Series is a pre-show panel discussion series that delves into the deeper context surrounding each production. Panels are led by Northlight artistic staff and feature local experts and academics. The Lost in Yonkers Salon will be heldWednesday, May 14 at 6:15pm (preceding 7:30pm performance; tickets to the performance are not required to attend the Salon). Panelists are to be announced.
Lost in Yonkers is supported in part by generous contributions from BMO Harris, Room & Board, Sage Products and Vi Living. This production is also made possible in part by individual production sponsors Mr. and Mrs. Nick Alexos, Michael and Joan Callahan, and Matt and Christine Udoni.
Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences, reflecting our community to the world and the world to our community.
Now in its 39th season, the organization has mounted nearly 200 productions, including over 40 world premieres. Northlight has earned 151 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and 28 Awards. As one of the area’s premier theatre companies, Northlight is a regional magnet for critical and professional acclaim, as well as talent of the highest quality.
Northlight is supported in part by generous contributions from The Allyn Foundation; Arts Midwest; Blackman Kallick Bartelstein, LLP; BMO Harris Bank; Draft FCB; the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; ComEd, An Exelon Company; Edgerton Foundation for New American Plays Award; Ernst & Young; Evanston Community Foundation; Gand Music & Sound; The Homestead Hotel; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; The Irving Harris Foundation; Kirkland & Ellis Foundation; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Madison Dearborn Partners; Melvoin Award for Playwriting; Modestus Bauer Foundation; North Shore Center for the Performing Arts Foundation; The Offield Family Foundation; The Pauls Foundation; Pioneer Press; Quince at the Homestead; Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation; Room & Board; Sanborn Family Foundation; Shubert Foundation; Skokie Fine Arts Council; Sullivan Family Foundation; Target; and Tom Stringer Design Partners.
Director Devon de Mayo, whose work has been seen on Chicago stages, most notably with Dog & Pony and Next, is making her Northlight debut. Devon was Northlight’s Director of Education for five years.
Timothy Edward Kane has previously appeared at Northlight in The Miser and She Stoops to Conquer. He recently appeared in An Illiad at Court Theatre. Ann Whitney previously appeared at Northlight in Grey Gardens. The rest of the cast is being seen on the Northlight stage for the first time.
Title: Lost in Yonkers
Written by: Neil Simon
Directed by: Devon de Mayo
Featuring: Anne Fogarty, Erik Hellman, Timothy Edward Kane, Linsey Page Morton, Alistair Sewell,Sebastian W. Weigman and Ann Whitney.
Dates: Previews: May 2 – 8, 2014: Regular run: May 10 – June 8, 2014
Schedule: Tuesdays: 7:30pm (except May 13, 20 and 27)
Wednesdays: 1:00pm (except May 21) and 7:30pm (exceptMay 28)
Sundays: 2:30pm and 7:00pm (except May 11, 18 and June 8)
Location: Northlight Theatre is located at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie
Tickets: Previews: $25-$54 Regular run: $25-$75 Student tickets are $15, any performance (subject to availability Box Office: The Box Office is located at 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie. 847.673.6300; northlight.org