Westport: Westport Country Playhouse Hosts “Family Fun Day” on Sunday, October 31, 11 to 3 p.m.

Westport Country Playhouse has changed the date of “Family Fun Day” to Sunday, October 31, from 11 to 3 p.m., due to inclement weather forecast for October 30, the previously announced date. “Family Fun Day” features activities for kids, treats, food trucks, community food drive, beer tastings, and costume parade for kids and dogs. In addition, the Playhouse box office will be open from 12 to 2 p.m. for 25% discounts on in-person tickets to the upcoming performances of “Doubt: A Parable” as well as 2022 Flex Passes. Admission is free and open to the public. 

“The Playhouse is happy to welcome families in our community back to our campus for a unique event that combines fun family friendly activities and giving back,” said Jennifer Carroll, Playhouse community and sales manager.

“Family Fun Day” begins at 11 p.m. with a ghost story on the Playhouse patio as guests listen to the WSHU Public Radio broadcast of the latest play in the Playhouse Radio Theater series, “Spectres and Spirits,” by Richard R. Henry, directed by Mark Shanahan. At 12 p.m., there will host a Story Hour on the patio.  At 1 p.m., a children’s costume parade will march around the Playhouse campus, followed at 1:30 p.m. by a pet parade with treats courtesy of Earth Animal. At 2 p.m., another Story Hour will be hosted by Jenny Nelson, reading “There is a Witch in Your Book.”

Children are encouraged to bring their own pumpkins for decorating.  Other activities include going on a scavenger hunt, making an origami ghost, and weaving a spider web.

Food Truck Refinery will be on site with their specialties available for purchase. Hot drinks and apple cider donuts will also be for sale. Free beer tasting will be provided by Two Roads Brewing Company. Vendors are subject to change.  

The Playhouse will host a community food drive to benefit Open Doors Shelter in Norwalk during the “Family Fun Day,” as well as serving as a Toys for Tots drop-off location through December 10. Any guest donating food, a new book, or a toy to these charity drives at “Family Fun Day” will be entered into a drawing for a pair of tickets to a show in the Playhouse’s 2022 season. 

Masks are encouraged though not required while outdoors. Masks are required indoors where restroom are located. Staff and volunteers will be masked and vaccinated.

“Family Fun Day” details at:  https://www.westportplayhouse.org/show/familyfunday/

Last year, the global pandemic shut down the Playhouse’s 2020 Season. During 2021, the Playhouse has produced online, outdoors, and on the radio. This November, in-person theatrical productions will resume with a live staging of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning drama, “Doubt: A Parable,” playing November 2 – 20. In addition, the play will be filmed before a live audience for on-demand streaming at home, from November 11 – 21.

Opening the 2022 season from April 5 through April 23 will be the musical, “Next to Normal,” with music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and directed by Marcos Santana.  “Next to Normal,” a 2009 Tony Award®-winning musical and winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, gives an unconventional look at a family in crisis, while pushing the boundaries of contemporary musical theater.

“Straight White Men,” written by Young Jean Lee and directed by Mark Lamos, will play from May 24 through June 11. It’s Christmas Eve, and Ed has invited his three grown sons back to their family home for Chinese takeout, pranks, and gossip. But when an impossible question threatens the cheery festivities, they’re forced to face their own identities.

A dance-filled, reimagined, sassy, and sultry “Ain’t Misbehavin’” will run from July 5 through July 23. The 1978 Tony Award® winner for Best Musical celebrates the legendary jazz great Fats Waller. The show as you’ve never seen it before will be directed and choreographed by Camille A. Brown, 2019 Tony® nominee for Best Choreography for “Choir Boy.” The musical is conceived by Richard Maltby Jr. and Murray Horwitz. Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA, will co-produce.

“4000 Miles,” written by Amy Herzog and directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director, will be staged from August 23 through September 10. After suffering a major loss while on a cross-country bike trip, 21-year-old Leo seeks solace from his feisty 91-year-old grandmother in her Greenwich Village apartment. Over the course of a single month, these unlikely roommates infuriate, bewilder, and ultimately find each other. “4000 Miles” was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and winner of the 2012 Obie Award for Best New Play.

The 2022 Season will culminate with “From the Mississippi Delta” by Endesha Ida Mae Holland, from October 18 through November 5, 2022. The journey begins in Greenwood, Mississippi–the Delta–where Phelia works in the cotton fields. Her experiences inspire her to dream, sweeping her into the momentum of the civil rights movement and attending college in the north. The play won a Los Angeles Drama-Logue Award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

2021 Season Sponsor is the Eunice and David Bigelow Foundation. 2021 Season Media Sponsors are Moffly Media and WSHU Public Radio. 

All titles, artists, dates, times, and formats are subject to change.

For updates on Covid-19 health and safety protocols at the Playhouse, visit https://www.westportplayhouse.org/visit/covid19safety/

For more information on “Family Fun Day” or ticket purchases, visit www.westportplayhouse.org, or call the box office Tues., through Fri., 12 to 6 p.m., at (203) 227-4177, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Stay connected to the Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), and on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).

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