BY NATHAN [email protected]
Two newlyweds discoverhow to live as a couple in thenew Lewis
and Clark Theatreproduction of “Barefoot in thePark.”
The romantic comedy waswell-known playwright NeilSimon’s
longest-runningBroadway hit after opening inOctober 1963. It went
on to be-come a Gene Saks-directedfilm starring Robert Redfordand
Jane Fonda.
“I chose this play andwanted to do it a couple yearsago,” said
Sue Fields, directorof the Lewis and Clark produc-tion. “I liked
the screenplayand movie. It’s one of my fa-vorites.
“It’s about newlyweds,”she added. “One is a stuffedshirt. The
other is over thetop. They figure out they arein love and get
married. Butwithin two weeks, they’re onthe verge of a
divorce.”
The wife, Corie (played byMikayla Vetter), is an
“uncon-ventional” woman in compari-son to her husband, Paul
(PaulDiSalvo). She attempts to gethim to loosen up — to go“barefoot
in the park.” Theplay is set in 1960s New YorkCity at the couple’s
apart-ment.
During the course of theplay, Corie’s mother (TawneeWeiland),
gets a secondchance at finding romance.
“It’s a fun, romantic com-edy that will make the audi-ence feel
good, and it isfamily-friendly,” Fields said.“Neil Simon has a
subtle senseof humor, and you see that allthrough the play.”
The small cast featuresonly one actor that Fields hasdirected
previously — herhusband, Randy (who plays arepair man and a
characternamed Harry Pepper).
However, there is anothermember of the cast withwhom Fields is
well ac-quainted. Jerry Pierret, her fa-ther, has taken on his
firstacting role at age 76. It wasn’teasy to get him to join
thecast, according to Fields. Shejokes that it took some
“armbreaking” rather than the tra-ditional “arm twisting.”
“I think I got conned. Nev-ertheless, it was hard to sayno,”
Pierret joked during a re-cent practice.
He has the small role of adelivery man.
“I’m nervous, even thoughI’m hardly doing anything,”Pierret
said. “It’s been inter-esting.”
“Barefoot in the Park”opens July 31 and plays twoweekends.
However, the Lewisand Clark Theatre Company isalso trying something
differ-ent this year by holding a 2p.m. matinee performance
Sat-urday, Aug. 16, during River-boat Days.
“It’s an extra performance.We’re technically done theweekend
before that,” Fieldssaid. “But we thought peoplein town for
Riverboat Daysmight like to take a break fromthe sun and watch the
play.We decided to give it a try.”
Fields said she has beenhappy with progress on theplay. The
actors have been offtheir books for some time, andthe set is nearly
complete.
“With all the talent in-volved, it hasn’t been a diffi-cult play
to put together,”Fields said.
She can’t wait for the hardwork during the past twomonths to pay
off for every-one involved.
“I want the audience tohave a good time and laugh,”Fields said.
“Hopefully, they’ll
tell their friends about it, somore people come.”
Performances of the playat the Dakota Theater indowntown Yankton
are July 31through Aug. 3; and Aug. 7- 10.Showtimes are 2 p.m. on
Sun-days and 7:30 p.m. for allother performances.
Get ticket information bycalling (605) 665-4711.
———CAST AND CREW
The cast of characters inorder of appearance are:
Corie Bratter — MikaylaVetter
Telephone Repair Manand Harry Pepper — RandyFields
Lord & Taylor DeliveryMan — Jerry Pierret
Paul Bratter — Paul DiS-alvo
Mrs. Banks, Corie’sMother — Tawnee Weiland
Victor Velasco — CraigAnderton
———Director — Sue FieldsAssistant Director — Sta-
cie PeitzStage Managers — Eliza-
beth McMillen and AndrewPeitz
Light and Sound — ZakMcComas
Stage Construction —Russ Leonard and crew
You can follow Nathan
Johnson on Twitter at twit-ter.com/AnInlandVoyage. Dis-cuss this
story atwww.yankton.net/.
BY JORDYNNE [email protected]
Country music artistCollin Raye will return toYankton to put on
a “Faithand Freedom” acousticconcert at 7 p.m. on Sun-day, Aug. 3,
at the YHSSummit Activities CenterTheater. Raye performedin Yankton
for a sold-outaudience in 2012.
“Collin has a gift ofweaving a beautiful mes-sage into his music
with avery
passionate delivery,”said Dave Goeckner, direc-tor of Adult
Faith Forma-tion and ReligiousEducation at Yankton’s Sa-cred Heart
Parish. “Theconcert was a huge suc-cess before. We had a lotof
great feedback.”
With a new patriotictheme, this show will notbe the same as what
Yank-ton saw in 2012.
“The VFW will have acolor guard and theKnights of Columbus
willhave an honor guard.There will also be a localyouth choir that
will ac-company Collin for twosongs,” Goeckner said. “Hewill
perform some of hismany hits, along withsome newer ones. It’sgoing
to be a great show.”
In addition, after theshow, Raye will do a sign-ing for his new
book, “AVoice Undefeated.”
“We are excited tosponsor Collin Raye be-cause of his faith and
pa-triotism. It’s going to be agreat event. There is goingto be
something there foreveryone,” Goeckner said.
Tickets for the showare $15 in advance and $20at the door. The
event issponsored by 16 areagroups and businesses.
The sponsors for thisevent are Yankton CatholicRespect Life,
YanktonCatholic Foundation Of-fice, Marty Knights ofColumbus,
Leader, Larsonand Associates, Mt. MartyCollege, Willcockson
EyeAssociates, P.C., Wintz andRay Funeral Home, LambCatholic Radio,
RiverfrontBroadcasting, SacredHeart Monastery, TwoRivers
Technology,WNAX/The Wolf, CatholicUnited Financial, BerkleyMotors,
Best Western KellyInn and 5 Star Communica-tions.
“We are grateful for oursponsors as we could notdo this without
their sup-port,” said Goeckner.
You can purchase tick-ets online
at:www.collinrayeyankton.eventbrite.com
For more informationabout this event, contactDave Goeckner at
605-665-3655 or by email [email protected].
You can follow Jor-dynne Hart on twitter
attwitter.com/hartjordynne.Discuss this story
atwww.yankton.net.
COMICS 4BLIFE 5B
RELIGION 6BHOMETOWN 7BHOMESTYLE 8BTV LISTINGS 9B
SECTION BPRESS & DAKOTANFriday, July 25, 2014
RIV
ER
CIT
Y
PHOTO: ROBERT PARRYHAVE A PHOTO? Submit it to River City for
publi-cation in this space: [email protected].
Support for the rest of your life.
To schedule an appointment call 605-655-1200 or toll-free
1-877-256-8973.
Drink lots of water…Eat fruits and vegetables…Get regular
check-ups…ExerciseThese are all important health tips that you’ve
probably heard hundreds of times. But, do you hear “Check your feet
regularly?” in that mix? If the answer is no, you may be uninformed
about one of the most essential aspects of achieving overall health
- healthy feet - that will support you the rest of your lives.
BarefootIn The Park
CollinRaye Set
For ReturnTo Yankton
COURTESY PHOTOCountry music star CollinRaye will perform in
concertat the YHS/Summit ActivitiesCenter theatre in YanktonAug. 3.
Raye played a sold-out show at that venue in2012. Organizers say
thisacoustic performance willfeature a patriotic theme.
Neil Simon Comedy Steps Onto The Local StageRC
KELLY HERTZ/P&DABOVE: The cast of “Barefoot in the Park”
includes (back row, from left): Craig Anderton as Victor Velasco;
Randy Fields as a telephonerepair man and Harry Pepper; Jerry
Pierret as a Lord & Taylor delivery man; (front row, from
left): Tawnee Weiland as Mrs. Banks; MikaylaVetter as Corie
Bratter; and Paul DiSalvo as Paul Bratter. (BELOW LEFT: Victor
makes an awkward introduction. BELOW RIGHT: Corieisn’t happy about
Paul’s plans for their first night together in the new apartment.
To see or purchase images from this event, visit
spot-ted.yankton.net/.
The Yankton Parks andRecreation Department issponsoring its
final “LateNight for Teens” of the sum-mer, on Friday, Aug. 8, at
Me-morial Pool from 8-10 p.m.The events theme is “SunKissed Days
and Cool Nights.”
Come dance the nightaway with this popular teenevent. School
starts in a fewdays, so join in the fun andenter to win the final
bellyflop and hoop shoot contestof the year. It is sure to be
anight to remember.
For further information,call 668-5234 or stop by theSummit
Activities Center at1801 Summit Street, Yankton.Remember to follow
the Yank-ton Parks and Recreation onFacebook.
Final Memorial Park Pool Teen Night Aug. 8
