JUKEBOX Comes to Farmington This Month

Get ready for A Jukebox for The Algonquin opening at the Farmington Players Barn in Farmington Hills, Michigan.  It’s the community theater premiere of a show by playwright Paul Stroili that’s fresh from an exciting run at The Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea. 

Jukebox is billed as “a serious comedy about sex, drugs, and rocking chairs.” – a tale focusing on four friends at a senior home who “will not be forgotten.” It runs Friday September 29th through Saturday October 14th at the Farmington Players Barn in Farmington Hills. Mr. Stroili will be joining theatergoers for the opening night performance. Tickets are available now at www.farmingtonplayers.org or at the box office: (248) 553-2955. 

The story is set in the Placid Pines Senior Care Center in the Adirondack mountains of Northern New York State. We meet a band of spunky seniors who refuse to take old age lying down.  “The writing is incredible,” says director Barbara A. Bruno of Oxford. “The play is both endearingly funny and deeply moving. I fell in love with it the first time I read it.”

Jukebox features seventy year-old Johnny who just wants to buy a jukebox to liven up the place. With a little help from his friends, he hatches a plan to raise the money that will lead them all to just the other side of the law. 

Ms. Bruno enjoys discussing how the characters care so much about each other, and, in turn, make us care about them. “Ultimately, the play is a celebration of life and a reminder that our connections with each other are what makes life worth living.”

She adds that Jukebox “directly challenges what are often preconceived notions about aging.”  She also embraces the primary theme that age is just a number: “People don’t stop being who they are simply because their bodies are experiencing the effects of time,” she says.

With that in mind, she’s confident Jukebox will leave audiences feeling fantastic. “I’m hoping that people will walk away from the show with some laughter on their lips and a little more joy in their hearts.”

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