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n o v e m b e r 2 0 2 2
C a s t P R e s e n t s . . .
t h e m a n W h o C a m e t o d i n n e R
Clinton Area Stage Troupe will present the comedy, The Man Who Came to
Dinner, on November 17, 18, and 19 in the North Hunterdon High School
theater. Playwrights Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman created the play with fictitious
characters based on early 20th century actors, writers, and critics such as Gertrude
Lawrence, Noel Coward, and Alexander Woollcott.
The play is set in a small Ohio town, where celebrity critic and radio personality
Sheridan Whiteside, portrayed by Vincent Angeline of Union Township, has broken
his hip in a fall while exiting the home of his dinner hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Stanley
(Jerry Cahill of Hampton and Kathy Snow of Lebanon). Confined to a wheelchair in
the Stanleys' home for the next month, Whiteside wreaks havoc as he hosts celebrities
and paroled convicts, receives exotic animals and insects as gifts, attempts to have the
housekeeping staff (Meg Adam Slutter of Lebanon and Bill Noren of Clinton)
relocate to New York, and gives meddling advice to the Stanleys' adult children (Andy
Kapetanakis of Asbury and Megan Joyce Fisher of Clinton). Whiteside is an
irascible invalid to his long-suffering nurse, Miss Preen (Diane Lehnert of Clinton),
while Dr. Bradley (Ed Winnick of Flemington) endures his insults in hopes of having
Whiteside read the novel he has written. The only household member who escapes
Whiteside's interference is the eccentric aunt, Harriet Stanley (Linda Lauchaire of
Easton), who bemuses Whiteside as she floats on and off stage.
When Whiteside's secretary, Maggie Cutler (Kristeen DeCristofaro of Hardwick)
falls in love with a local reporter (Bill LePore of Phillipsburg), Whiteside calls upon
the gorgeous actress Lorraine Sheldon (Jeanne Dunham of Clinton) to intervene.
The celebrated writer/composer Beverly Carlton (Bruce V. Cargill of Annandale)
and a Harpo Marx-like character named Banjo (Tom Newman of High Bridge) step
in to aid Maggie.
Other performers in the play are Dante Appello, Brandy Brock, Margaret
Gartlgruber, and Mike Garyantes. The creative team includes producer/director
Mary Meo of Clinton, production assistants Linda Lauchaire, Diane Lehnert,
and Kristeen DeCristofaro, and stage managers Ronna Hill and Lauren
Magierowski. Megan Povlich assists on stage crew.
Tickets, at $15 for regular admission and $10 for senior citizens over
age 65, can be ordered at: www.ClintonAreaStageTroupe.com. Seating
will be arranged with alternate rows empty for social distancing. Performances
are November 17, 18, and 19 at 7:00 pm at North Hunterdon High
School in Annandale. CAST's show is produced by special arrangement with
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
