A collaborative theatrical production on June 15 between the Otero Players and the Picketwire players will allow local residents a sneak preview of Tuesdays With Morrie, the troupe’s entry into the 20th Colorado Theatre Festival in Idaho Springs on Friday, June 20. The local troupe will vie with seven other community theatres from around Colorado for the opportunity to advance to regional, national, and possibly international competition. Tuesdays With Morrie, will be performed on Sunday, June 15 at 4:00 p.m. in the Ed Stafford Theatre on the OJC campus. There is no admission charge.
Steve Simpson, OJC’s Director of Theatre, describes the essence behind the 1997 novel written by Mitch Albom and later adapted for the stage and television movie. “Maybe you had a grandparent or a teacher - older and wiser when you were young and foolish – someone you looked up to who helped you make sense of the world, someone who embraced you for the hidden qualities nobody else could see. Perhaps life took the two of you in different directions and you lost touch along the way. Sometimes you miss your mentor’s sage advice and long for those fulfilling conversations that once provided you with the confidence and the courage to face life’s struggles. OJC’s Otero Players and the Picketwire Players are making it possible to examine such a relationship onstage, joining forces to produce Mitch Albom’s and Jeffrey Hatcher’s Tuesdays With Morrie, a play adapted from Albom’s best-selling 1997 novel detailing his relationship with Morrie Schwartz, Albom’s sociology professor at Brandeis in the 1970s,” said Simpson.
A 1999 television movie, produced by Oprah Winfrey and starring Hank Azaria and Jack Lemon, won four Emmys. The autobiographical story reveals the love, respect and dependence these two men had for each other as Mitch reconnects with his old professor in the final months of Morrie’s struggle with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Directed by Steve Simpson, OJC’s Director of Theatre, the play features John Eubank as Mitch and Norm Milks as Morrie. The cast and crew are engaged in polishing their production for presentation as a competition piece at the 20th Colorado Theatre Festival in Idaho Springs on Friday, June 20 where they will vie with seven other community theatres from around Colorado for the opportunity to advance to regional, national, and possibly international competition. Judy Hensley, RuAnn Keith, and Velma Simpson are valued members of the company as well, both onstage and backstage.
According to the director, “This play has been a labor of love. We’ve gone through a lot of Kleenex during rehearsals, and even though the play ends with Morrie’s death, the inspiring words and insights of both the characters provide overwhelmingly positive life messages that we can hold onto to encourage and guide us. I want to thank the Picketwire Players board of directors for their willingness to collaborate with the Otero Players on this lovely show,” said Simpson.
The public is invited to a free performance of Tuesdays With Morrie at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, June 15 in the Ed Stafford Theatre on the OJC campus. There will be a talkback following the performance so that audience members can voice their opinions and ask questions of the cast and crew. This will be the final dress rehearsal before the troupe strikes the set, loads it on truck and trailer, and leaves for Idaho Springs. Although there is no admission charge, a “pay-what-you-can” donation basket will be available in order to help defray the expenses of touring to the festival.
