The McLean Community Players To Present HARVEY

The McLean Community Players celebrate a return to the Great Falls Grange with Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning, timeless comedy Harvey, which was produced at the Grange in 1986 by the Great Falls Players, one of MCP's predecessor companies. New audiences are invited to join the eccentric Elwood P. Dowd and his mystical friend "Harvey," an invisible Pooka rabbit, for three weekends in March beginning Friday, March 9.

Harvey tells the story of the efforts by Elwood's sister Veta, who loves her brother dearly but is embarrassed by his habit of introducing his invisible friend to "important" people around town, to have Elwood committed to the local sanitarium. A mistake is made, however, and it is Veta who is committed, not her brother. The resulting chaos leads to unanticipated but hilarious impacts on a host of characters. Of course, everything is sorted in the end but there are surprises, and dollops of wisdom shared, as everyone determines exactly what is 'real.'

Directing the production for MCP will be Eleanore Tapscott, who says of Harvey:

Amidst all the zaniness and fun, the play quietly draws us towards empathy. Elwood represents what is different, and it is his outsider quality, his otherness, that's perceived as a threat to his family. However, Elwood is the least threatening character in the entire play. I think we can all learn a little something from Elwood. He's different and sees something that only he can see, but it is his differences that make him wonderful. And as he says: "I wrestled with reality for forty years, and I am happy to state that I finally won out over it."

The production represents something of a "homecoming" for the McLean Community Players. For several decades the Players - then known as the Great Falls Players - performed exclusively at the Grange, and it was only when the opportunity arose to perform at the McLean Community Center (in a venue where musicals as well as dramas or comedies were practical) that the Great Falls Players merged with another theatre group to form the McLean Community Players. The Community Center is now closed for extensive renovation, and the Players have used the opportunity to perform at other venues in Northern Virginia.

The Great Falls Grange is located at 9818 Georgetown Pike in Great Falls and is a handicapped-accessible facility. Evening shows will take place at 8:00 p.m. on March 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 and 24; matinee productions at 2:00 p.m. March 11 and 18. Ticket prices are $20 for general admission, $18 for students and seniors, and $15 for group sales of 10 persons or more. Tickets may be purchased through the Players' website: www.mcleanplayers.org, or at the Grange door if seats are available.

Harvey is being performed through special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service Inc.

The McLean Community Players is funded in part by the Arts Council of Fairfax County, and this particular production has been funded in major part by a long-time Great Falls resident who prefers to remain anonymous.

The McLean Community Players, based in McLean, Virginia, celebrate both the musical and dramatic theater traditions. MCP is committed to doing theater for the community, in the community, with the community and sustained by the community.

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