The 10-person cast for New Year’s Eve at Grandma’s House is having a busy few days. They held their first rehearsal with teacher/director Ryan Kitley Monday night, running through the entire play.
A few days earlier, several cast members were allowed access to the theater in Evanston where the show will be performed April 13 and rehearsed on their own in the setting where they will bring the characters in Grandma’s House to life for two performances April 13.
The two exercises sent playwright John N. Frank back to his keyboard to rework several scenes to make them more theatrical.
“It’s an interesting exercise writing characters based on real people,” Frank says. “They have to be entertaining all the time, something real people often aren’t, and that means changing some events or personality traits. I just hope the relatives I based these characters on don’t come back to haunt me too badly after they see the final product.”