The Boys Next Door brings message to Gaslight Dinner Theatre

Release Date: 8/27/2001. Expired: 11/9/2001

Looking into the minds and hearts of the mentally challenged in today’s society, The Renaissance Center proudly presents The Boys Next Door in the Gaslight Dinner Theatre.

The production is touted as one of the best ensemble plays of modern theatre as it addresses the briars and nettles of mainstreaming mentally challenged individuals into an intolerant society.

Written by Tom Griffin, The Boys Next Door will touch the hearts of its audience as four roommates of a halfway house for mentally challenged adults present us with an overall picture of their world.

The production is a visual tapestry of the daily lives of these four men, where little things sometimes become mountains and often very funny. There are also moments of great poignancy.

The New York Times comments that The Boys Next Door “moves the audience to an awareness of how many things in everyday life we take for granted.”

The main characters in the play are: good-natured Norman, who works in a bakery and is more than happy to “put away” all of the day’s scrumptious rejects. Norman is played by The Renaissance Center’s Senior Marketing Director Chris Norman; Arnold, a hyperactive compulsive man who tries to cope with a persecution complex, is portrayed by Director of Program Development Brad Diamond; Lucien, who has the mind of a 5-year-old but imagines he can read the weighty books he lugs about, is played by Hal Partlow; and Barry, a brilliant schizophrenic who, in his make-believe world, is a golf pro, is played by Pacer Harp. Cast as Jack, the group’s compassionate liaison to life in the real world, and who sadly reflects society’s general intolerance of the mentally challenged and its reluctance to see the need for change, is Greg Frey.

Other characters include Jan Y. Dial as Sheila, Norman’s girlfriend; Amy Arrington as elderly neighbor Mrs. Fremus, neighbor Mrs. Warren and Clara; and Chris Lacy as Mr. Hedges and Barry’s father, Mr. Klemper.

“Although the behavior and antics of these four men are often hilarious, the characters in The Boys Next Door also bring each condition painfully to life,” said Kim Leavitt, director of the upcoming production. “People who have never seen the play or the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie often mistake it for a mere comedy about the mentally challenged. Those people are grossly misinformed. Griffin’s play is a comment on how our society deals - or doesn’t deal - with the mentally challenged.”

While the play focuses on the obstacles of Norman, Arnold, Lucien and Barry, it also reveals to us our own shortcomings and prejudices, Leavitt said.

“The play asserts that mainstreaming the mentally challenged does little to raise the intellectual capacities of the group, although the social experience seems to help them a little,” she said. “A prime example of this is when Lucien, the most severely retarded of the group, has his benefits cut off because the state Senate has decided he’s ‘recovered.’ It’s not until Lucien appears before the Senate and bravely sings ‘The Alphabet Song’ that they realize their enormous error.”

This heartwarming and poignant production is presented 6:30 p.m. Fridays Sept. 21 through Nov. 9. Tickets are $25 and include dinner and the show. Reservations are required and must be made no later than noon on the day of the performance.

For more information on The Boys Next Door or other activities and events at The Renaissance Center, call (615)740-5600.

The Renaissance Center is located at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 minutes west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.

Visit the Gaslight Dinner Theatre page for more about dinner theatre.

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