Holly Whitmire part of NPC's "Brighton Beach Memoirs" production

2014 Sep 18

Holly Whitmire of Snowflake is a member of the cast and crew for Northland Pioneer College's performances of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs this November at the Performing Arts Center on the Snowflake campus.

Dinner theatre performances will be Nov. 7, 8 and 13 at 6 p.m. Reservations are required at $24 per person for the three-course catered meal and show. Show-only performances will be Nov. 14 and 15, starting at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are $6, or $8 on the day of the performance. Senior citizens and NPC students and staff qualify for a $1 discount on show-only performances. Tickets can be reserved through the Performing Arts Center Box Office, 536-6250, or online at www.npc.edu/tickets. The play contains adult themes and language.

Considered the first part of Simon's autobiographical trilogy, which includes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound, the play is a portrait of the playwright as a Brooklyn teenager in 1937, living with his family in crowded, lower middle-class circumstances.

Logan Kempfer portrays Eugene, the young Simon, as the narrator and central character. His mind is full of fiercely fantasized dreams of playing baseball with the Yankees and dimly fantasized images of girls.

The play includes Eugene's hard-working father (Alex Brown), his sharp-tongued mother (Alexis Marquez), his older and vastly more experienced brother (Michael Staley), his widowed aunt (Cassidy Cammarota) and her two young daughters (Holly Whitmire and Kara Hunt). As Eugene's father says, "If you didn't have a problem, you wouldn't live in this house."

Dr. Michael Solomonson, chair of the Performing Arts Department, is directing the NPC performances. Ashley Nudson is the stage manager, assisted by Mitchell Armer. Angelica Ellis and Cassidy Cammarota are the set crew. April Overstreet is the costume mistress. Judy Staley is directing the dinner theatre wait staff, which includes Jacob Shriver.

Questions about the performances can be directed to Performing Arts Department Chair Dr. Mike Solomonson at 536-6217.

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