DEAR JACK, DEAR LOUISE Comes to Hedgerow Theatre Company

Beginning February 11, Rose Valley-based Hedgerow Theatre Company will present the regional premiere presentation of Dear Jack, Dear Louise by two-time Tony Award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig. The heartwarming play tells the joyous true story of Ludwig’s parents’ courtship during World War II and is performed by actors Max Lynch and Brandon Tyler. Directed by audience favorite Peter Reynolds, Dear Jack, Dear Louise is set to run from February 11 to March 1, with 16 performances presented in Hedgerow’s 100-seat theater, housed in an atmospheric 19th-century grist mill. 

Ken Ludwig is among the most produced playwrights of his generation. He has had 34 plays and musicals staged throughout the United States and produced in 20 languages in more than 30 countries. Ludwig’s works have been produced on the biggest stages, from Broadway to London’s West End, have received numerous Tony and Olivier Awards, and have become standards of the American theater repertoire. In November 2019, Dear Jack, Dear Louise was first performed on the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and was immediately hailed as “moving and cinematic” (DC Theatre Scene) and “a poignant, funny tribute to the enduring power of human connection” (The Washington Post). It went on to receive the 2020 Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play.

Set in 1942, Dear Jack, Dear Louise opens on U.S. Army Captain Jack Ludwig, a shy doctor stationed in Oregon, beginning a hopeful correspondence with Louise Rabiner, a budding actress and dancer living in New York City. Initially connected by their matchmaking parents, one letter soon turns into hundreds as the unlikely pair take to each other through their witty and personal exchanges. The two dream of meeting one day, but as World War II rages on, their star-crossed connection is at risk of ending before it ever truly begins. What follows is an unexpected true story and romantic comedy that grows over time, overcoming distance and war one envelope at a time.

“The two characters, Jack and Louise, find each other during a time of war,” shared Reynolds. “Though they are connecting through letter writing, the connection proves real and, ultimately, long-lasting. Dear Jack, Dear Louise is especially significant to the author as it explicates the love story of his own parents. It’s a story from a different time, a time when kindness was prevalent, when humans sought connection not over text message, but through thoughtful discourse.”

To bring the romantic story of the Ludwigs to life, Hedgerow welcomes New York-based actor Max Lynch and Philadelphia actor Brandon Tyler as Louise and Jack. A native of Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, Lynch has appeared in several productions at New York’s Woodstock Playhouse (Footloose, The Wedding Singer, Cabaret, The Little Prince) and performed in Mauckingbird Theatre Company’s Tell Me On A Sunday in Philadelphia, which was led by Dear Jack, Dear Louise director Peter Reynolds. Tyler has performed in two productions with the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival and, most recently, appeared as Romeo in Philadelphia Shakespeare Company’s Romeo and Juliet (2020). Hedgerow audiences will recognize Tyler from his performance in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2024). 

Returning to Hedgerow to direct the regional premiere of Dear Jack, Dear Louise is Philadelphia-based theater artist Peter Reynolds. He has previously led several Hedgerow productions, including Tartuffe (2019), The World According to Snoop (2022), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2024). His Philadelphia area credits include: Act II Playhouse, Media Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Walnut Street Theatre, Cape May Stage, and the Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center in New Jersey. Reynolds serves as the Head of Musical Theater at Temple University’s School of Theater, Film and Media Arts and the founding Artistic Director of Mauckingbird Theatre Company.