The Grauer School's Theatre Students To Present "The Man Who Came To Dinner"

The Grauer School’s Theatre Department will present the play The Man Who Came To Dinner by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman on the following dates: Thursday, February 9; Friday, February 10; and Saturday, February 11. The performances are open to the public, and they will be held on The Grauer School’s campus, located at 1500 S. El Camino Real in Encinitas. Performance times will be at 7:00 p.m., and tickets can be purchased at the door for $7.00 per person.

The Man Who Came to Dinner is a brilliantly witty play that is one of the most beloved comedies of the American theatre. This is the 6th annual play presented by The Grauer School’s Theatre Department and director Erin Langen, Theatre Arts Program Director. Langen draws on her own acting experience and theatre background to direct students in the annual play and Theatre Café Night performances during the school year. This play features a large cast of twenty Grauer students, half of whom are newcomers to acting. Langen remarked, “Grauer programs are inclusive, so all of our students have access to them. The theatre world is an open and welcoming community, and it’s important to me that Grauer’s theatre program reflect that. The theatre program is at a college preparatory level and each actor is required to fully develop their characterization, so one of my most meaningful tasks as the director is to encourage the students and guide them with techniques to help them be focused and professional.”

The play is a student-centered production featuring the work of Grauer’s entire Visual and Performing Arts Department, including Theatre students performing in the cast, Graphic Design students creating the show’s posters, Photography students shooting the cast photos, Recording Arts students creating pre-recorded material to simulate the sound of a radio show, and Music students performing live music during the performances.

The Man Who Came to Dinner is set in the small town of Mesalia, Ohio, in the weeks leading to Christmas in the late 1930s. The story is centered around the character of Sheridan Whiteside, a radio celebrity who comes to town and injures himself so he is forced to spend a month in Mesalia. Grauer senior Luke Ruggiero, who plays Whiteside, is an experienced actor who has performed in many local youth theatre shows and Grauer plays, most recently starring as Seymour in San Diego Junior Theatre’s production of Little Shop of Horrors and starring as George in Grauer’s production of Our Town last year. Ruggiero will be attending the School of Nursing at the University of San Francisco next year, and he plans to continue acting during his college years. Ruggiero said, “I like acting because it’s fun to play a different person, and I enjoy the challenge of finding the mannerisms that make each character unique. My character in this play, Whiteside, begins as an over-confident celebrity who insults everyone with funny jokes, but he’s interesting because he transforms through the play to show how much he cares about other characters.”

Senior Ariana Stevens, also a veteran actor who has performed in local youth theatre shows and the annual Grauer plays, plays the character of Lorraine Sheldon, a temperamental and glamorous actress. Stevens said, “Lorraine has been a fun character to play because she’s over-exaggerated and she owns the room in her scenes. I researched the real-life actresses that her character was based on so I could understand her better. The costumes, hairstyles, and props also really help me imagine being an actress in the time period of the 1930s.” After graduating from Grauer, Stevens will be studying early childhood education at Columbia College in Chicago. One of the reasons she chose a college in Chicago was the strong theatre community she discovered there during a Grauer Expedition trip in 2014, and she plans to continue working in the theatre world behind the scenes during college. Stevens remarked, “For me, the acceptance of change and learning to let go are important messages in this play, which is especially meaningful now that I’m getting ready to graduate from Grauer and leave home for college.”

Director Erin Langen has chosen to stage The Man Who Came to Dinner in the ‘theatre in the round’ performance style with the audience surrounding the stage and performers, which is not the traditional format for this play. Langen was excited to use ‘theatre in the round’ staging after seeing the play Fun Home on Broadway last year during a Grauer Expedition trip to New York City, and the staging has been an interesting challenge for the actors. Ruggiero remarked, “Having the audience around the actors allows me to show my emotions more naturally because I don’t have to focus on moving to face the audience like I would in a more traditional stage format.” Langen and her cast are confident that the audience will be highly entertained by this fast-paced humorous production, and the ‘theatre in the round’ staging will make them feel like they’re part of the show. Stevens said, “I hope the audience comes to laugh at this very funny show, and I know they’ll be moved by the heartwarming relationships that are at the heart of the play.”

About The Grauer School

The Grauer School, founded in 1991, is a grades 7-12 private, college preparatory school located in Encinitas, California. The school is a member of NAIS, accredited by WASC and serves as a successful educational model for hundreds of private schools around the world through the Small Schools Coalition (SSC), established by Dr. Stuart Grauer in 2011. To learn more about The Grauer School, visit www.grauerschool.com or call 760/944-6777.