This Thursday and Friday, the Highlanders are putting on a show with a collection of scenes from one of America’s best playwrights, complete with a 360-degree rotating stage.
Curtain call at Glenvar High School is 7:30 p.m. and tickets will be $5 for adults and $4 for students. The rotating stage was built specifically for the play: “It’s a 19-foot stop sign, basically” assistant director Dale Bayless said.
The cast and crew are welcoming everyone to a tailgate on Friday beginning at 5:30 p.m. $4 will get you a hot dog or hamburger, two sides and a drink.
Q and A:
Troy Frying opens the production with a scene from “All Due Respect,” pictured above in the foreground
Q: How do you feel about opening the whole play and playing Neil Simon in his autobiography?
A: I actually like it, it being my first play. And I haven’t really seen a lot of stuff that he’s done. It’s been really fun.
Director Steve Franco
Q: Why Neil Simon?
A: The last few years we’ve done a number of shows that have been really heavy dramas. There was one about the Vietnam War…the seniors wanted to do their final show with comedy.
Q: What’s your favorite Neil Simon play?
A: Everyone always asks that…It’s really hard [ponders while leaning on a broom]… Probably “Barefoot in the Park”. It was one of the first shows I did as a high school teacher and one of the first ones I acted in as an actor.
Q: Is there a central theme that you focus on in "Simon Says"?
A: We took some of the scenes from his shows and looked at what they said about individual relationships…these are vignettes about that.
Tess Vierling plays in “Rumors”
Q: What have you learned about Simon?
A: He is one of the only writers I know that bases it off of real people…the way that they fire back at each other all the time is how real people would.
Andy Neikirk plays in four scenes, including "Rumors," pictured above
Q:What is your favorite line, out of the four scenes that you play in?
A: “Hi kids, it’s David” from God’s favorite. I play the drunk guy.
Chris Kidd
Q: Do you get to dress up in any outrageous costumes?
A: I dress up as an old guy…I spray-paint my hair grey. [as Harry in “Prisoner of Second Avenue”]
Q: What’s your favorite line?
A: “I don’t drink coffee” [he says in a Brooklyn accent].
Q: How many times do you say that?
A: Three times, about four…variations of that.
Taylor Bittner
Q: Tell me about “The Odd Couple” (pictured with co-star, Oscar, in dish gloves)
A: I’m the OCD one; I have to have everything clean and in order. By doing that, I get on Oscar’s nerves a lot.
Q: Are you OCD in real life?
A: No, not really
Kendall Pollock: Yes he is!
A: I’m not that OCD
Callie Thompson
Q: How many Simon scenes are you in?
A: I’m a freshman, so I don’t do that much yet.
Q: What have the upperclassmen taught you?
A: To have a good time…When you make it fun, it’s easier to remember and after you go through it so many times.
Taylor Pollock, with fake eyelashes and bright blue eyeshadow
Q: And what scene are you in?
A: “Last of the Red Hot Lovers”, scene 1
Q: Which character?
A: We prefer the term “The Friendly Girl.”
Jonathan Marino, who plays Pollocks counterpart in “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” scene 1
Q: Tell me about your character in that scene.
A: I play Bonny. He’s just a normal nerdy guy. He’s trying to have an affair in his mother’s apartment. It’s pretty funny.
Cast members (six of eighteen) from left: Jonathan Marino, Callie Thompson, Taylor Pollack, Chris Kidd, Taylor Bittner, Andy Neikirk
Here's a link to more information about Neil Simon.
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