BECKY'S NEW CAR Opens 9/11 At Saint Paul's Historic Hamm Building

Playful, wacky and wistful, BECKY'S NEW CAR maps out a road trip that lets the audience ride shotgun in a way most plays don't dare. In this life-affirming play about the road not taken, Becky - without really planning to - takes the chance to test drive another life.

Director Peter Moore, who closed the 2008-09 season with Spider's Web, Park Square's most attended non-musical show ever, will once again draw on the area's top talent in the Twin Cities premiere of Becky's New Car, opening September 18 (previews begin September 11) at Park Square Theatre, 20 W. Seventh Place, Saint Paul. Bob Davis (as Becky's husband Joe) and Sid Solomon (as Becky's son Chris), both in Spider's Web, are back with Moore; this time, joined by Virginia Burke, who stars as "Becky Foster," the 40-something office manager whose life takes some unexpected turns. Burke played in Steven Dietz's Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, the best-selling hit of Park Square's 2007-08 season, also directed by Moore.

Nationally-recognized playwright Steven Dietz, who has strong ties in the Twin Cities artistic community, actually crafted the script as a birthday gift from a Seattle commercial realtor to his theater-loving wife. Becky's New Car, which premiered at the Seattle ACT Theatre in 2008, was commissioned through an ACT program that brings patrons and playwrights together to provide for the future of American theatre.

Previews of Becky's New Car will be held Friday, September 11 through Thursday, September 17; the show opens Friday, September 18 at 7:30 p.m. Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Sundays through October 4. All performances are in the company's intimate theater in Saint Paul's historic Hamm Building, 20 W. Seventh Place. Tickets are $36 on Thursdays through Sundays (with opening night at $40). Group, senior, and speciAl Prices for those 30 and under are also offered. Tickets are available at 651-291-7005 or online www.parksquaretheatre.org.

Joining the "Foster Family" on stage are Christopher Denton, John Middleton, Emily Eve Shain, Karen Weber and Sally Ann Wright. The artistic team includes Michael Hoover (scenic), Sarah Holmberg (properties), Mike Kittel (lighting), Montana Johnson (sound) and Kelsey Glasener (costumes).

Photo by Petronella Ystma.