Photo Flash: BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS Opens at Theatre Memphis

Brighton Beach Memoirs opens at Theatre Memphis on the Lohrey Stage today, April 26, 2013 with Irene Crist returning to direct the Neil Simon coming of age comedy. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The plot focuses on a semi-autobiographical story featuring Eugene Morris Jerome, a Polish-Jewish American teenager, who experiences the turmoil of his family dynamics, his sexual awakening and his search for his identity. Having to deal with his older brother and female cousins who move into his home, the family situations prove to be material that is tender and funny. The original Broadway production was the winner of the New Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.

Playing the lead role of Eugene is Sam Shankman, a senior at Memphis University School who will be attending Northwestern University in the Fall. No stranger to the Memphis stages, Shankman most recently was seen on the Lohrey Stage as Harvey Johnson in the Theatre Memphis production of Bye Bye Birdie. Since that time he has performed at Playhouse on the Square, and at MUS, the latter winning him the Orpheum High School Musical Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2012. That prize entitled him to participate at the national competition (The Jimmys) and be featured in a PBS documentary on the subject, "Broadway or Bust."

Crist, who last directed Circle Mirror Transformation in the Next Stage at Theatre Memphis, masters a veteran cast which includes Shankman, Tamara Wright, Emily Angel Baer, Carly Nahon, Ellen Saba, William Monteith and Stephen Huff.

Brighton Beach Memoirs will run at Theatre Memphis on the Lohrey Stage, 630 Perkins Ext, Memphis, TN, tonight, April 26 - May 12, 2013, playing Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with matinees at 2pm on Sundays. Tickets: $23 adults, $15 students with valid ID. Call the Box Office at 901.682.8323 or go online at www.theatrememphis.org.

Sam Shankman as Eugene Jerome; (background, l-r) William Monteith, Ellen Saba and Carly Nahon

Sam Shankman as Eugene Jerome; (background, l-r) Carly Nahon, Emily Angel Baer and Tamara Wright

Sam Shankman and Emily Angel Baer portray son, Eugene, and mother, Kate Jerome

Stephen Huff, William Monteith, Ellen Saba, Sam Shankman, Carly Nahon, Emily Angel Baer and Tamara Wright