Midwest Players Announce Cast For Premiere Production, GRAND FAMILY FOODS

The Midwest Players, a new Evanston-based theater group, will produce its first play this April, a world premiere of Grand Family Foods, by Kurt Peters.

Cast in the two-act play are Bob Admshick as Kilroy; Jason LaCombe as Rick; Mary Mikva as Jean; Troy Peterson as Robert; Nooshiq Luz Salvador as Kim; Jill Thiel as Cindy; Phil Troyk as Charles; and Jean Waller as Linda.

John N. Frank, co-founder of the Evanston 2nd Act Players, will direct. Midwest Players' founder and Grand Family Foods author Kurt Peters will produce.

The play tells the story of Rick Erickson, owner of a small grocery store in Millburg, Wis., as he struggles with conflicting desires to, on the one hand, bail out of a losing proposition and, on the other, continue to provide the anchor that the store has been to a struggling community.

The story examines our obligation to support one another in a modern world beset with failing institutions and with political, economic and social leaders who are working to divide people.

Peters says of Grand Family Foods, "it is not just about the dire situation that small Midwest towns face. It's about responsibilities we have to our neighbors and how the way we take care of others reflects who we are."

The show, which is being produced in cooperation with the 2nd Act Players, will be performed at Evanston's Logan Hall Theater at Northminster Presbyterian Church, where the 2nd Act Players have been in residence since 2017. Performance dates are Saturdays, April 20 and April 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays April 21 and April 28 at 3 p.m.