FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BURT REYNOLDS INSTITUTE FOR FILM & THEATRE

Master actors heat up the stage in Summer Showcase

Jupiter, Florida:  Kelly Dennehy, Executive Director of the Burt Reynolds Institute for Film & Theatre (BRIFT), announced that the eagerly awaited 2011 Summer Showcase will be presented on the center stage at the Institute on Saturday evening, June 26^th, at 7 pm. A BRIFT annual event, the Showcase will feature performances by graduating students from Burt Reynolds’ Master Acting class – the best of the best among those who bring the written word to life.

This year’s Summer Showcase will feature nine scenes from some of our most loves plays, including The In-laws, a comedy about two families getting to know each other right before their children marry. Soon the father of the bride, a mild mannered podiatrist, discovers that his daughter’s new in-laws are international smugglers. Michael Vadnal and Robb Sellard will have the audience “smuggling” laughs out of the theater to enjoy on their ride home at the end of the evening.

Written by Keith Reddin, Life and Limb is a dark comedy about a Korean War veteran who returns home only to discover that the loss of an arm is not the only thing to have changed him. Sherman Roberts and Jeanne Bennett, starring as a husband and wife who have lost touch, bring a haunting realism to this somewhat ghoulish comedy.

Another dark comedy, this one written by Neil Simon in 1970, The Gingerbread Lady is about a cabaret singer whose career, marriage, and health have all been destroyed by alcohol. The play won both Tony and Drama Desk Awards and is sure to garner winning accolades for BRIFT actors Rhonda Stearns and Jackie McDow.

In Chapter Two, also by Neil Simon, George Schneider is an author whose wife had recently died. His brother, Leo, gives him the number of Jennie Malone, and the two hit it off. Just when their relationship starts to gel, the memory of George’s first wife comes between them. Performances by Klif Gehring and Robb Sellards as George and Leo are destined to remain in the audience’s memory as well.

Chocolate by Frederick Stoppel allows for a darkly humorous exchange between an investigator looking for answers and a murderous woman with an affinity for chocolate. Michael Vadnal as the aloof homicide detective and Amy Hoerler as the murderous wife of the missing man play their roles to perfection.

The Star Spangled Girl, the story of a love triangle mixed with politics, and was another big hit for Neil Simon in 1966. In 2011, it is destined to be a hit for actors Gregg Goldsbury, Kate Katzman and Robb Sellards as well as a much entertained BRIFT audience.

Wanda’s Visit is the comic, somewhat realistic, story about a married couple. Jim and Marsha are a bit restless in their relationship and have their lives thrown into further turmoil by an unexpected visit from Jim’s high school girl friend (Wanda). Earleen Marlow, Tina Pfeiffer and Mark Emerson bring their scene to life with just the right touch of turmoil.

He, She and It by Marge Piercy was published in 1991and tells a story of romance between a human woman and the cyborg created to protect her community from corporate raiders in post-apocalyptic America. Richard Ribuffo and Marianne Haaland are most convincing in this suspenseful tale that will keep the audience comfortably at the edge of their seats.

BRIFT audiences will immediately feel at home with Todd Vittum and Bill Butland as Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple. The familiar story of two divorced men with drastically opposite ideas on housekeeping is a sure laugh inducer. Vittum and Butland are easily convincing as buddies who have been known each other for years and are true friends despite having majorly different uses for a dust rag.

Tickets to the Summer Showcase are $10.00 and are available through the box office at the Burt Reynolds Museum. Interested patrons can stop by the Museum or call 561 743-9955 Thursday through Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm.

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The Burt Reynolds Institute for Film and Theatre (BRIFT) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization committed to educating and involving the community in all aspects of film, television and theater as well as preserving Mr. Reynolds’ vast collection of Hollywood memorabilia and the history of the film industry