FIFTH OF JULY Kicks Off Town Players' 80th Anniversary Season Tonight

Spring has finally arrived, and with it, Town Players' 80th anniversary season opener -- FIFTH OF JULY -- beginning tonight, April 24 at The Little Theatre on Orchard Hill Road in Newtown.

Written by Lanford Wilson, FIFTH OF JULY tells the tale of paraplegic Vietnam vet Ken Talley, who lives in his childhood Missouri home with his partner Jed. As Ken struggles to find meaning in life, deciding whether he wants to return to teaching, a number of friends and relatives arrive for a visit - each with a separate agenda. As the visit descends into a bidding war for the farmhouse, the sale of which Ken has been contemplating, past and present relationships must be pulled up and carefully examined before anyone can decide upon the future.

Nominated for five Tony Awards in 1981, including best play, and winner of best featured actress in a play (Swoosie Kurtz), FIFTH OF JULY features the "boundless empathy that is Mr. Wilson's hallmark as a dramatist, presenting a more sober but equally affectionate creed of acceptance of human failings." (NYT, Feb. 4, 2003)

"It's a play that I'm fond of because I lived through the time," says director Maureen Trotto of Monroe, "and it's a play about relationships and how, in our young lives, the people who we choose to associate with are so influential."

The cast includes the talents of Christopher Cooney (Monroe), Miles Everett (Thomaston), Sheila Hageman (Trumbull), Timothy Huebenthal (Southbury), Emily LaPerch (New Milford), April Lichtman (Easton), Nancy Thode (Greenwich), Matthew Saul (Litchfield) and Donna L. White (Mahopac, NY). The production crew includes producer Gene Golaszewski (Brookfield), set designer Duane Langenwalter (Monroe), lighting designer Nick Kaye (Bethel), and stage manager Terry Polvay (Sandy Hook).

FIFTH OF JULY runs April 24 - May 16. Curtain times are 8 PM Fridays and Saturdays, with 2 PM matinees on April 26 & May 3. Tickets are $22; $18 for matinee performances. Reservations may be made by calling the box office at 203-270-9144 or by sending an email to reservations@newtownplayers.org. For further information, visit www.newtownplayers.org or email info@newtownplayers.org. Town Players' Little Theatre is a community theater, currently in its 80th anniversary season, located on 18 Orchard Hill Road, just off Route 25 (a mile north of the Sand Hill Plaza) in Newtown, Conn.