UMF presents the comedy ‘Expecting Isabel,’ Oct. 23-26

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FARMINGTON – University of Maine at Farmington’s Theatre UMF will be performing Lisa Loomer’s award-winning comedy, “Expecting Isabel,” as its premier fall 2008 theater production. This amusing and honest glimpse at the efforts of a 21st century couple to have a child will be presented at 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 23–25; and 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 26, at the UMF Alumni Theater.

Under the direction of Peter Simmel, UMF associate professor of theater, “Expecting Isabel” takes the audience on an “Alice in Wonderland-esque” ride through the booming baby business and all its pitfalls as a modern-day couple tries to have a baby by any means possible.


Joe Leonard and Sarah O Blenes are featured as Nick and Miranda in University of Maine at Farmington’s fall production of Lisa Loomer’s “Expecting Isabel.”

With a student-based cast and crew, this university production features 22 students playing more than 30 roles. “The UMF theater program gives our students, many without any previous stage experience, the opportunity to be innovative, develop communication skills and grow in self confidence,” said Simmel. “The visual and performing arts experience helps create well-rounded, engaged individuals with the ability to lead within the arts arena and beyond.”

A comic sometimes tender narrative, “Expecting Isabel,” tells the story of Miranda and Nick, a thirty-something Manhattan couple, who decide it’s time to have a child, though Mother Nature has other ideas. As they discover that growing their family may not be as easy as they expected, they struggle with the maze of modern medicine, the hope of adoption, and the strain that expectation and disappointment can impose on their lives.

Winner of the American Theatre Critics Association Award for “Best New Play 1999,” “Expecting Isabel” also received the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays award for 1998 and the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play. A playwright, screenwriter, actress and comedian, Loomer co-wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award-winning “Girl Interrupted” and has received numerous awards for her literary works on contemporary family life.

Tickets for the performance are $6 for adults, $5 for non-UMF students, $3.50 for seniors and free for UMF students with an I.D. This presentation’s content is of an adult nature and suitable for mature audiences only. Tickets are available at the time of the performance and can be reserved by calling the Theatre UMF box office at 207-778-7465.

CAST

Miranda . . . . . Sarah O Blenes – Salisbury, Mass.
Nick . . . . . Joe Leonard – Holden
Tina . . . . . Brittney Blais – Garland
Eugene, Clerk . . . . . Matt Black – Jay
Lila . . . . . Jade Wells – Pittsfield
Richard, Harvey . . . . . Ryan Patstone – Waterboro
Lisa, Nurse . . . . . Eryn Neptune – Readfield
Sal . . . . . Mark Lemos – Durham
Group Therapist, Taylor . . . . . Lindsay Ward – Newfields, N.H.
Lupe, Nurse . . . . . Margaux DePue – Sidney
Gary . . . . . Adam Randall – Braintree, Mass.
Isabel, Nurse, Woman in Park . . . . . Dorie Pierce – Bristol, Vt.
Dominic . . . . . Jared Boghosian – Belgrade
Pat, Group Leader . . . . . Nikki Hartwell – Hiram
Dr. Watson . . . . . Aaron Watson – Phippsburg
Cabbie . . . . . Ryan Verrill – Belgrade
Judy . . . . . Rebekah Church – Vienna
Val, Junkie . . . . . Kenneth Lamb – Portland
Heather, Mother in Grocery, Mother in Park . . . . . Maria Skillings – Cape Elizabeth
Boss, Waiter . . . . . Kyle Morison – Sidney
Yolanda . . . . . Micaela O’Shaughnessy – Caribou
Paula . . . . . Kristin McCormack – E. Montpelier, Vt.

Director . . . . . Peter Simmel, UMF associate professor of theater
Scenic/lighting design and Theatre UMF technical director . . . . . Daniel Brunk – Geneseo, N.Y.
Stage manager . . . . . Allisia MacDonald –Charlestown, N.H.
Assistant stage manager . . . . . Kathleen Powers – Lovell

For more information, please contact of Peter Simmel, UMF associate professor of theater, at 207-778-7461, or simmel@maine.edu

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