A BAD YEAR FOR TOMATOES Begins May 16 At Theatre 40

Theatre 40, in the Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212. This is on the campus of Beverly Hills High School. Theatre 40 is Beverly Hills' professional theatre company. Ample free parking is available beneath the theatre. The parking area is best accessed through the driveway at the intersection of Moreno and Durant Drives.

May 16- June 16, 2019. Thurs.- Sat. at 8:00, Sun. at 2:00. The performance on Friday, May 17 will be at 7:00 p.m.

ADMISSION: $35. RESERVATIONS: (310) 364-0535. ONLINE TICKETING: www.theatre40.org

Fed up with the pressures and demands of her acting career, the famous Myra Marlowe leases a house in the tiny Vermont hamlet of Beaver Haven, and settles down to write her autobiography. She is successful in turning aside the offers pressed on her by her long-time agent, but dealing with her nosy, omnipresent neighbors is a different matter. In an attempt to shoo them away, and gain some privacy, Myra invents a mad, homicidal sister - who is kept locked in an upstairs room, but who occasionally escapes long enough to scare off uninvited visitors. The ruse works well, at first, but complications result when the local handyman conceives an affection for "Sister Sadie' (really Myra in a fright wig) and some of the more officious ladies decide it is their Christian duty to save the poor demented Sadie's soul. In desperation, Myra announces that her imaginary sibling has suddenly gone off to Boston - which brings on the sheriff, and the suspicion of murder!

What will happen to Myra now?

This wild, hilarious comedy is written by John Patrick (1905-1995). Patrick, the author of dozens of plays, is best known for The Teahouse of the August Moon (for which he received the Tony Award) and The Hasty Heart. Also a prolific screenwriter, he wrote screenplays for Les Girls (Writers Guild Award winner), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Oscar nomination), The World of Suzie Wong, High Society, The Shoes of the Fisherman, and more.

A Bad Year for Tomatoes was originally produced in 1974.

Larry Eisenberg directs A Bad Year for Tomatoes. He is the Co-Artistic Director of the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre, where he has directed numerous shows, among them Awake and Sing, Chaim's Love Song, The Trip to Bountiful, The Poor of New York, Over the River and Through the Woods, and his own play Nautilus, which was adapted into the film Fish Don't Blink. He won a Drama-Logue Award for directing Isaac Bashevis Singer's Stories for Children at the West End Playhouse. Also an actor, he recently starred in Tuesdays with Morrie at Sierra Madre Playhouse.

The cast of A Bad Year for Tomatoes includes Diana Angelina, Amanda Conlon, David Datz, Ann Ryerson, Leda Siskind and Jeffrey Winner.

A Bad Year for Tomatoes is one of the funniest shows you will see this year.