LOST IN YONKERS Comes to the Dio

The Dio – Dining & Entertainment, Livingston County’s professional, award-winning dinner theatre, will bring Lost in Yonkers back to our stage! The production is directed by Steve DeBruyne, with sets, lights and sound designed by Matt Tomich who also serves as Stage Manager, costumes by Norma Polk, props by Eileen Obradovich and wigs by Chloe Grisa.

By Neil Simon, America's great comic playwright, this memory play is set in Yonkers in 1942. Bella is thirty-five years old, mentally challenged, and living at home with her mother, stern Grandma Kurnitz. As the play opens, ne'er-do-well son Eddie deposits his two young sons on the old lady's doorstep. He is financially strapped and taking to the road as a salesman. The boys are left to contend with Grandma, with Bella and her secret romance, and with Louie, her brother, a small-time hoodlum, in a strange new world called Yonkers.

“Lost in Yonkers was the first full production produced at The Dio back in 2013,” says Dio Artistic Director, Steve DeBruyne. “We did it on a small budget, a stage that had six feet less depth, and only 6 stage lights that were operated using remote operated light switches – we could do two things with them, turn them on and turn them off. Very few people knew we existed. Less than 300 tickets were sold. Now ten years later, we'll bring this American classic back to life as part of our historic 10th Season!”

The show features performances by Dylan Benson and Vaan Otto as brothers Jay and Arty, Luciana Piazza as their Aunt Bella, Olive Hayden-Moore as their Grandma Kurnitz, Donovan Leary as their Uncle Louie, Amy Schumacher as their Aunt Gert and Steve DeBruyne as their father, Eddie.

All tickets include dinner, featuring The Dio’s signature fried chicken, non-alcoholic beverages, dessert and the show. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options are available when ordered in advance. To see the full menu, please visit diotheatre.com.

Performances take place at The Dio, 177 E. Main Street, Pinckney Michigan, 48169 from June 9 through July 9, Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday afternoons. No performance on Father’s Day, June 18. 

Tickets for all performances are available now and may be purchased by visiting diotheatre.com or by calling (517) 672-6009. Seating is limited, so consider making your reservations well in advance.

*Lost in Yonkers contains mild language, and is intended for audiences ages 13 and older.