Introduction
The Palace Theatre
May 9, 10, 11, 16, 18, 2003
Steve Arnold, Director
Ed Cardwell, Technical Director, Stage Manager
Kevin Bookmeier, Technical Design
Ron Baldwin, Producer
Sponsored by Farmers’ Savings Bank and Trust
ACT I has staged only one other play by Neil Simon; our 1993 production of The Odd Couple, female version. This time, we leave Simon’s broader comedy behind as we present perhaps his finest play ever, Lost in Yonkers. Set in the apartment above Kurnitz’s Kandy Store in Yonkers, New York in 1942, this warm and nostalgic coming of age story follows a year in the life of two Jewish boys living with their German immigrant grandmother.
Fifteen year old Jay Kurnitz and his thirteen year old brother Artie have had it rough. Their mother has died recently after a long bout with cancer. Their father, Eddie, has an almost insurmountable load of medical bills to pay. With World War II raging, Eddie is able to land a very lucrative job selling scrap iron, but there’s a catch — he’ll have to be on the road for a full year. Where can he find for his boys to live while he’s away?
For Jay and Artie, the worst prospect imaginable would be living with their terrifying Grandma Kurnitz. But Eddie has no place else to turn, and so Jay and Artie soon find themselves “lost in Yonkers,” outcasts within a whole family of outcasts, trying to survive within their father’s classically dysfunctional family.
Lost in Yonkers won the Pulitzer Prize in 1991.
Setting: Yonkers, New York; 1942
Cast
Jay: Blake Hanson
Artie: Jordan Graham*
Eddie: Steve Arnold
Bella: Julie Canaday
Grandma Kurnitz: Linda Merritt*
Louie: Chris Braden*
Gert: Judy Burkle*
*ACT I Debut
Staff / Crew
Light / Sound Operators: Erin Horst, Abby Hilton, Alex Martinez-Vasquez
Poster Design: David Canaday
Set Construction: Ed, Nancy, and Eddie Cardwell
