Hands on a Hard Body at Andrew &

Lakewood Theatre Company
Presents the musical
HANDS ON A HARDBODY
July 10 – August 16, 2026

Lakewood Theatre Company presents its 74th season premiere with the musical Hands on a Hardbody, July 10 through August 16, 2026. Performances will be held on the Headlee Mainstage at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego.

Hands on a Hardbody, directed by Thomas C. Graff, is a musical adapted from S.R. Bindler’s 1997 documentary of the same name, which chronicles a 1994 contest in Longview, Texas, in which people competed to win a Nissan truck by keeping one hand on it for the longest time. The musical features an original score by Trey Anastasio of the band Phish, music and lyrics by Amanda Green, and a book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife).

The Title Sponsors for Hands on a Hardbody are the Lakewood Center Associates, and the Music Sponsor is The Portland Spirit.

Performances run from July 10 to August 16 with the following schedule: Thursdays to Saturdays at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 2:00 PM, two Saturdays (July 25, August 8) at 2:00 PM, and two Wednesday performances (July 29 and August 12) at 7:30 PM. The Lakewood Theatre Company features an intimate 220-seat theatre located at the Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego.

Ticket prices are $55. Additional discounts are available for students and groups. For more information and tickets, call the Lakewood Box Office at (503) 635-3901 or order online at www.lakewood-center.org.

Note: Hands on a Hardbody includes mild adult language, references to alcohol, seduction, and physical attraction.

Special note: On Wednesdays, July 29 and August 12, the theatre continues its Wine or Whiskey on Wednesday (WOW) program, WOW: 25-35. For audience members aged 35 and under, tickets are $30 each. Use the code WOW30 when ordering online to receive this special discount. At these performances, a complimentary wine tasting will be offered one hour before the curtain, courtesy of an Oregon vineyard or distillery. OLCC rules apply! Bring your ID for the tasting!

The story: When an auto dealership in Longview, TX, launches an endurance contest, ten economically strapped strangers embark on a journey that tests their hearts, minds, and bodies. The contestant who keeps at least one hand on a brand-new hardbody truck the longest gets to drive it off the lot. What initially seems like a mere publicity stunt soon becomes a soul-baring battle of wills. Only one can win, but for all involved, the truck holds the key to their own private American dream.

The mix of people in this contest includes: an unlikeable prior winner who is a bit racist; the son of an immigrant who wants to be a veterinarian; a USMC veteran; an older woman (with her husband for support) who really needs the money; a Texas evangelical; a beauty queen; an older man (and his wife as support) who is recovering from a fall from a big rig; and a few other folks. The backstory involves the faltering dealership, lack of sales, and unethical behavior by some of the staff.

The ensemble includes Melissa Gale, Derek Gregerson, Kate Potter, Mike Dederian, Andrew Stoffers, Victoria Garcia, Sam Babst, Danny Caputo, Mary Compton, Evan Tait, RJ Tofte, Bryan Durden, Jody Allen, Margo Schembre, and Jason Nuesa.

Artistic Staff: Hands on a Hardbody is directed by Thomas C. Graff. Cyndy Ramsey-Rier serves as the music director, while Teri Berardino Newman serves as the choreographer and assistant director. Kendra Comerford is the stage manager, Marcus Storey is the sound designer, Bill Burbach is the set designer, Nikki Paulson is the costume designer, Ian Anderson-Priddy is the lighting designer, and Allen R. Phillips designs the properties. Steve Knox is the producer.

About Lakewood Theatre Company
74 Years of Live Theatre: Established as a not-for-profit organization in 1952, Lakewood Theatre Company is committed to the study and presentation of drama in all its forms; the training and development of actors; and the creation, maintenance, and operation of a theater to present plays and other forms of entertainment. Lakewood Theatre Company holds the distinction of being the oldest continually operating, not-for-profit theatre company in the Portland Metropolitan area. It provides over 300 theatre artists with opportunities to learn and showcase their craft each year, and attracts more than 35,000 attendees to its shows.

Productions in the 2026-27 season are underwritten, in part, by
The Oregon Arts Commission
The National Endowment for the Arts
The Kinsman Foundation
The James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation
Marilyn & Ron Nutting
The Jackson Foundation

Additional Material
About the Production
The musical is based on the 1997 documentary Hands on a Hard Body. In Longview, Texas, local Nissan dealerships hosted a grueling endurance contest in which dozens of entrants stood for days in the scorching heat. The rules were simple: each contestant had to keep one hand on a brand-new "hardbody" truck at all times. The last person standing won the truck. The film documented the contestants' sleep deprivation, hallucinations, and deep personal and socioeconomic struggles, turning a seemingly absurd competition into a poignant character study.

Playwright Doug Wright, a Texas native, saw the documentary and recognized the theatrical potential of these diverse, blue-collar contestants. He teamed up with Amanda Green and Trey Anastasio to create the musical adaptation. The show blends country rock, gospel, and rhythm-and-blues ballads. It premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California, on May 12, 2012.

The production made its Broadway debut at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on March 21, 2013. The Broadway cast featured a lineup of seasoned performers, including Keith Carradine, Hunter Foster, and breakout star Keala Settle. The production was praised for its creative staging—performers danced and sang while maintaining their connection to a pickup truck onstage—along with its blunt, honest look at post-traumatic stress, poverty, and the American dream.

Artistic Staff for the Lakewood Production
Thomas C. Graff (Director). Favorite shows include Barnum, The Fantasticks, Dead Man Walking, Babes In Arms, Frankenstein, Good News, A Little Night Music, The Diary of Anne Frank, and several G&S operettas. Tom taught high school theater at Jesuit and Central Catholic High School for a combined 36 years. At the University of Portland and Lewis and Clark College, Tom taught Musical Theatre and Opera Performance for 10 years. Favorite roles include Nicely Nicely Johnson, Beadle Bamford, Big Daddy, and Amos Hart. He has sung with the Oregon and Seattle Symphony. Tom has been a member of IATSE Local 28 for 26 years, working in wardrobe on touring Broadway productions, concerts, and local opera and ballet. Special thanks to my parents, watching from above, family, friends, and teachers for supporting me with positive energy and encouraging “thinking outside the box” in creative problem-solving.

Teri Berardino Newman (Choreographer/Asst. Director) is a California native who began performing in musical theater in middle school, continued into high school, and entered college as a theater major. She worked in the performing arts throughout college and transferred to Chapman University on a dance scholarship. She participated in college cheer and auditioned for the Los Angeles Rams Cheerleaders, where she traveled and performed for five years in the NFL. Teri’s credits include several theatrical productions and small movie and television projects, and she continues to serve as a guest choreographer on the West Coast. She founded and directed a nonprofit youth cheer camp in the Portland metro area for 10 years. Additionally, Teri has been the varsity song/pom coach at Central Catholic High School for the past 16 years, where she has choreographed multiple musical theater productions. She says her finest work is her three beautiful children.

Cyndy Ramsey-Rier (Musical Director)is delighted to be part of Hands on a Hardbody, teaming up once again with Tom, Teri and Kendra for some summer fun! Here at Lakewood, she has previously served as musical director and conductor for productions of Funny Girl, A Christmas Story, Holiday Inn, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Something Rotten, Elf the Musical, Young Frankenstein, Godspell, and Sister Act. For theater programs at a number of regional high schools and colleges, she has musically directed over fifty productions, including Mamma Mia, Footloose, Little Women, Annie, The Drowsy Chaperone, Into the Woods, Les Misérables, Gypsy, Mack & Mabel, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, Man of La Mancha, Guys and Dolls, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Jesus Christ Superstar, Sweet Charity, Damn Yankees, Anything Goes, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado. An award-winning performer, she has been seen onstage at Triangle Productions, Clackamas Rep, The Musical Theatre Company, and Lakewood. Favorite roles include Anna in The King and I, Marian Paroo in The Music Man, Irene Malloy in Hello, Dolly!, Johanna in Sweeney Todd, Agnes in I Do! I Do!, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, and the title roles in Mame and Little Mary Sunshine. A proud member of NATS, Cyndy is a voice teacher and vocal coach with an independent studio in Beaverton.