Adirondack Regional Theatre presents "The Guys"

PLATTSBURGH | That fateful day people will never forget is fast approaching, and this year marks a milestone: 9/11/21. What will come in retrospect 20 years since thousands died in terror attacks on the Pentagon in D.C., in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the World Trade Center in New York City? Adirondack Regional Theatre has spent over a year rehearsing and is ready to stage the two-actor play "The Guys," a work written by New York City editor Anne Nelson who helped a Fire Department of New York captain write eight eulogies for the men lost in his company. The captain, "Nick," works through memories of his men with "Joan," the nom de plume for Nelson in the play. In Part I, "Are You Okay?", Nick names four of them as memorial services for each approach: "Bill Dougherty, he's first. That's Thursday. Then Jimmy Hughes. He's the next week. After that, there's Patrick O'Neill. That's a real hard one. My best friend. What a fine man. His wife wants it to be his on his birthday. And the next day is Barney Keppel. Everybody loved Barney." As conversations unfold around each man, details of life surface from deep grief in simple and remarkable ways. Joan is brought to appreciate things she would not have seen. "We have no idea what wonders lie hidden in the people around us," she says. First produced off-Broadway at the Flea Theatre in December of 2001, the show starred Sigourney Weaver and Bill Murray. The play was made into a movie in 2002. It has been performed by theatre companies throughout the U.S.A. In Feb. 2002, critic Elyse Sommer asked a prescient question in her review for CurtainUp: "We may not need The Guys to remind us that 9/11 happened. But as our 'wounded city' goes back to being 'beautiful and gleaming' we do need to remind ourselves that what makes New York the city people ... fall in love with year after year after year are all those unique New Yorkers -- like Joan, and Nick -- like Bill Doughterty, Jimmy Hughes, Patrick O'Neill, and Barney Keppel, who perished but live on in this play." And that, ART Director Tom Lavin says, is timeless, whether three months or 20 years since 9/11. "It is a character study, the play looks at how two people from different worlds can come together over a very tragic event and find out how much they have in common," Lavin said in an interview with the Sun. "The fire department captain, Nick, was off that day, but his fire brigade went to the towers; and on his truck he lost eight of his people. He has to write the eulogies, and how do you do that?" The dialogue works to weigh the beauty of human nature against tragedy and loss and come up with hope. "It's a true story. Anne Nelson wrote this whole play within 9 weeks of the Sept. 11 attack," Lavin said. "We've been working on this for over a year. Like a lot of the world, we were rehearsing by Zoom." With the Covid pandemic having kept people apart for much of the past 15 months, Lavin said the role of first responders took on a whole new meaning. In their honor, and in memory of 20 years since 9/11, Lavin said ART produced this show entirely as a fundraiser for local fire companies and ambulance squads in Clinton and Essex counties. All proceeds will support numerous agencies from Essex to Plattsburgh to Rouses Point. "We have two excellent actors that are performing this show, it's a dialogue between them. former Plattsburgh Mayor Jim Calnon is Nick the fire captain. And Lee Ann Thomas, Humanities professor at Clinton Community College, plays Joan. "We do bring the firefighters to life. They talk about Jimmy and Dave and Bernie and Patrick. They talk about who they were," Lavin said. "Obviously it's not an uplifting subject, but the play is not all doom and gloom." The discourse unfolds as characters shift roles, picking up where each other leaves an unanswerable question. The importance of mutual understanding comes through in the message, Lavin said. It is performed in three parts: I. Are You Okay? II. Pain Has Its Price. III. The Deal. "We all travel in our track: neighborhood, job, friends. Parents of your children's friends. ..." Joan says in one monologue. "You get to a certain age, the next person you meet has a logical connection to the ones that came before. Friend of a friend. "Nick and I weren't supposed to meet. You couldn't create another sequence for his life that leads to me. Or for my life that leads to him. "After September eleventh, all over the city, people were jumping tracks." Lavin said ART received New York State Council on the Arts funding and the show itself is paid for. "Every single dollar we raise at all shows will go to local first responders. We're performing three shows on three different weekends, nine shows in total. We hope to raise a lot of money for various organizations." IF YOU GO: ESSEX, New York: The Guys opens at the Masonic Lodge in Essex, in cooperation with the Essex Theatre Company: Aug. 27 and 28 at 7 p.m. and Aug. 29 in a matinee show at 2 p.m. Seats are $15 and all proceeds will go to fire companies in Essex County. ROUSES POINT: ART brings The Guys to the Samuel de Champlain Center Stage at Rouses Point on Sept. 2, an outdoor venue, starting at 6 p.m. This performance is by donation with all proceeds to go to the Rouses Point Fire Department. PLATTSBURGH: On Sept. 3, The Guys will be performed at the Valcour Brewing Co. on the Old Base at 7 p.m. All proceeds will benefit Adirondack Garda, a cycling club that supports Tour de Force, for family members of fallen police personnel. The organization currently supports two families of police officers who died as a result of 9/11. PLATTSBURGH: On Sept. 4 at 7 p.m., The Guys will be performed at the Butcher Block in the Adirondack Room, the banquet hall, which was donated by the restaurant for the show. All proceeds will go to the town of Plattsburgh first responders. PLATTSBURGH: Adirondack Regional Theatre will bring The Guys for a three-day run to SUNY Plattsburgh's Hartman Theatre, on Friday, Sept. 10 (7 p.m.), Saturday, Sept. 11 (7 p.m.) and Sunday, Sept. 12 (a matinee at 2 p.m.). On Sept. 11, the Plattsburgh State Gospel Choir will open the evening's performance with inspirational music. The shows in Plattsburgh are also by donation. Find out more: adktheatre.com

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Adirondack Regional Theatre presents "The Guys"

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