PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, October 7, 2011 CONTACT: Patrick Finlon, Marketing Director 315-443-2636 or pjfinlon@syr.edu
Syracuse Stage’s The Boys Next Door Finds Comedy and Compassion in a Group Home for People with Developmental Disabilities (Syracuse, NY)—Meet Arnold Wiggins. He’s basically a nervous person. He lives with Lucien P. Smith who fancies very big books, and Norman who works in the doughnut shop, and Barry who has schizophrenia and has convinced himself that he is a golf pro. In addition to an apartment, these guys share a caseworker named Jack who, despite his genuine concern for his clients, is on the verge of total burn-out. The Boys Next Door is a gentle comedy from the late 80s set in a group home for people who are developmentally disabled. As playwright Tom Griffin reveals the daily struggles of his characters to make sense of their world and their places in it, he reminds us to consider how much we take for granted every day. The Boys Next Door is very funny and very touching. Running October 19 through November 6, The Boys Next Door will be performed in the Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage, 820 East Genesee Street. Tickets range $18-$50 and are available at the Syracuse Stage Box Office, 315-443-3275 or www.SyracuseStage.org. The presenting sponsor for The Boys Next Door is The Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation. Sponsors are Syracuse University Humanities Center, POMCO Group, Burton Blatt Institute, and Arc of Onondaga (celebrating their 60th anniversary). The media sponsor is WRVO. Syracuse Stage’s 2011-2012 season sponsor is The Post-Standard. After a successful 1987 Off-Broadway run, The Boys Next Door was produced at hundreds of theatres around the country and the world, and in 1996 it was made into a movie featuring Nathan Lane. “It’s a fun, funny, and very moving rollercoaster ride of a play that stands the test of time,” said Timothy Bond, Director and Syracuse Stage Producing Artistic Director. Set clearly in the 1980s, the play sheds light on the progress that has been made for people with developmental disabilities. “Part of our mission as the region’s premier professional theatre is to tell the stories of people who have been underrepresented in the American culture,” said Bond. “Stories about people with developmental disabilities are rarely ever seen or explored on stage, though they are vital to our community and to so many of our audiences’ lives.” During the rehearsal period, members of the cast visited and shadowed with local organizations that provide services to people with disabilities. “The cast has done amazing
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