The 20th anniversary season for Stoneham’s Greater Boston Stage Company rolls in Sept. 5-29 with “Last Night at Bowl-More Lanes,” a world-premiere play by Weylin Symes, the company’s producing artistic director.
The hilarious, heart-warming play offers a look at friendship, love, competition and bowling. It features a cast of Boston favorites led by Nancy E. Carroll and Paula Plum, and is directed by Elliot Norton Award-winner Bryn Boice.
“The team we’ve assembled is very special,” Boice said. “Paula and Nancy are fantastic together, and they rarely get to share the stage. I believe this is the first time they’ve ever done a show together where they have actual dialogue. Audiences will be astounded by their chemistry.”
Symes came up with the play because of one simple idea.
“I was sitting around and thought, ‘How cool would it be to watch someone bowl on stage?’ And voila! A play was born,” he said.
He also likes telling stories that feature suburban settings and people who look and feel like the people who live near the theater. And he enjoys creating acting opportunities for actors “of a certain age.”
The play is also an homage to the building that GBSC occupies and to Symes’ family roots.
“Back in the mid-20th century, the basement of Greater Boston Stage Company — where our offices and rehearsal spaces are now — housed a bowling alley,” Symes said. “You can still see where the lanes used to be in the concrete under the rehearsal-room floors. And, believe it or not, since my family is originally from Stoneham, my father worked here setting pins in the alley when he was a teenager.”
Tickets are $47-$57 for adults; $42-$55 for seniors; $20 for students. Thrifty Thursday tickets are $15 at the door and available Thursday, Sept. 5. Call 781-279-2200 or visit www.greaterbostonstage.org.
Nancye Tuttle’s email address is nancyedt@verizon.net.
Get ready to Tingle
Image Theater is bringing nationally known comedian/satirist Jimmy Tingle to Lowell’s Old Court Pub for two shows on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 13-14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and available at www.imagetheater.com. More to come on this show later. But in the meantime, save the date.
Indian Hill celebrating 45th season
Tix are on sale now for the Orchestra of Indian Hill’s 45th season, opening Saturday, Sept. 21, with a concert at Littleton Performing Arts Center, 56 King St., featuring acclaimed violinist Rachel Barton Pine. “The season offers truly something for everyone, from new to old, from familiar to discovery, and — symphonically — from serious to frothy,” said Maestro Bruce Hangen, conductor and music director. Works by Bach, Brahms, Dvorak, Rossini, Rimsky-Korsakov and many others are on the programs. And besides Pine, the orchestra welcomes award-winning pianist Aristo Sham, singer Britt Brown and the Spectrum Singers as guests. For schedules, tickets and info on all Indian Hill music events, classical to jazz and everything in between, visit www.indianhillmusic.org or call 978-486-9524.
Shenanigans on the shore
Kick loose while summer is still here with several shows at Seacoast Rep in Portsmouth, N.H., and its second space, Star Theatre, in neighboring Kittery, Maine. The lineup includes “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” (midnight shows) and “Evita” through Saturday, Aug. 24, in Portsmouth. Neil Simon’s “The Sunshine Boys” plays the Star, Aug. 29-Sept. 8. And looking ahead to fall, Seacoast Rep presents the musical “Once,” Sept. 12-Oct. 12, and Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins,” a multiple Tony-winning theatrical tour-de-force, Nov. 7-16. Visit www.seacoastrep.org for times and tickets.
