Issaquah’s Village Theatre premiered their first Mainstage production of the year Jan. 20 with Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers” at the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre in downtown Issaquah.
Running through Feb. 28, the production marks the first time a professionally produced version of the play has appeared on a Seattle area stage in over a decade.
A winner of four Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize, Village Theatre bills the play as “a remarkable coming of age story.”
According to Village Theatre spokesperson Michelle Sanders, the play centers on the lives of two young brothers, forced to enter a dysfunctional household consisting of their formidable grandmother, their dim-witted aunt, and their Uncle Louie, a small-time thug.
The 1940s world of Neil Simon’s LOST IN YONKERS is reproduced on the Village Theatre stage with a city lined backdrop complete with detailed period furniture and layout.
“This Neil Simon masterwork is an examination of lives in an oppressive household, with a dramatic climax that is certain to leave you spellbound,” she wrote in a recent press release.
“(The production) will truly transport audiences to another time and place.”
The production will also feature direction by 2009 Tony Award-winner Brian Yorkey. He collected the award last year for writing the story and lyrics of the Broadway production of “Next To Normal”, which was developed at Village Theatre and is currently running at Booth Theatre in New York.
“Lost in Yonkers” is a welcome return for the Issaquah native, who has previously been awarded several Seattle Times Footlight Awards for his directoral work at Village Theatre on such Mainstage productions as The Who’s “Tommy” in 2007 and “The Importance of Being Earnest” last year. His vision for this production is to create a feeling of being within a memory.
“Like so many of Neil Simon’s plays, ‘Yonkers’ is drawn from events in his own life,” Yorkey said.
“We wanted to honor that spirit and give the play the feeling of being a childhood memory.”
Yorkey previously served as associate artistic director at the Village Theatre for seven years and is currently working on several new projects in the film and TV industries.
Playing leading roles onstage, Issaquah resident Jennifer Lee Taylor will star as Bella; Suzy Hunt will feature as Grandma Kurnitz; and Nick Robinson and Collin Morris play the parts of two brothers, Arty and Jay.
The production is also supported by a team reassembled from last year’s production “The Importance of Being Earnest”, including the scenic and lighting technicians Bill Forrester and Tom Sturge.
After completing it’s run in Issaquah, the production resumes at the Everett Performing Arts Center on March 5-28.
For more information or to book tickets for a coming performance, contact the Village Theatre’s box office at (425) 392-2202.
