Missoula, MT— Family comedy dished up with a side of lasagna, ravioli, and love: this describes Over the River and Through the Woods. The Missoula Community Theatre is tickled to serve this delicious non-musical production March 9-19 at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts.
Going Over the River and Through the Woods to dinner every Sunday at your grandparents’ house sounds idyllically lovely and yummy. But Nick’s grandparents are colorful Italian-American personalities who live to lovingly smother him with food and affection. His decision to move to Seattle for a job shocks them into hatching a plan to keep him at home in New York. In their minds, what else but a beautiful woman could make a man change his mind? The show is written by Joe DiPietro, who also penned I Love You, You’re Perfect…Now Change.
The Missoula Community Theatre tapped Teresa Waldorf to direct this production. Waldorf previously directed 9-5 The Musical for MCT, and most recently the University of Montana’s Legally Blonde The Musical. When Waldorf first read the script of Over the River and Through the Woods, she thought, “I know these people.” Many of the themes in the script resonated vividly with Waldorf. “My sweet husband, Rick, to whom I was married for 25 years, passed away due to cancer just over a year ago. He and his family, Italian East-Coasters, remind me so much of these dignified, funny, loving characters. I felt it was serendipitous that I could have the chance to bring what I know and love about them to the stage.”
The rehearsal process for this show has been as hilarious and tender as the script itself. Waldorf feels the small cast is “a dream team of talent and emotional depth.” Familiar names to Missoula theatre-goers, the cast includes Mike Verdon, Anne-Marie Williams, Paul Ronaldo, Salina Chatlain, Brit Garner, and Ian Tooley.
Warning: The Missoula Community Theatre can’t promise you won’t crave generous portions of Italian food after seeing this show. You’ll probably want to call your grandparents, too.
Over the River and Through the Woods will take place at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts, March 9-19. Tickets are available at MCTinc.org; by calling 406-728-7529; or at the MCT Box Office, which is open Monday-Friday between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. The production is sponsored by Equity Management, Inc. and Missoula Pediatric Dentistry, PC.
200 North Adams St.
Missoula, MT 59802
406-728-7529
[email protected]
www.MCTinc.org
