Art’s Alive will sponsor performances of the comedy Harvey by Mary Chase at the Trenton High School Performing Arts Center later this month. Doors will open on September 24th and 25th at 1:30 in the afternoon, and the shows will start at 2 pm.
Director Ann Plumb says the play is about a seven-foot-tall white rabbit who is invisible to everyone by Elwood P. Dowd, who is played by Rob Maloney. She explains that at the start of the play, Dowd’s sister, Veta Louise Simmons, played by Elizabeth Hackathorn, and her daughter, Myrtle Mae, played by Sarah Pauley, are entertaining guests while Dowd is out playing cards. However, Dowd comes home unexpectedly and introduces Harvey to the prestigious Ethel Chauvenet, played by JoAnne Trump.
Rob Maloney played Bob Cratchit in Art’s Alive’s A Christmas Carol in December. He says that is the only play he had ever been in, and he has never taken an acting class.
Maloney comments he had not heard of Harvey until Plumb told him that was the play Art’s Alive was planning to put on this fall. He looked up the play online and discovered Jimmy Stewart reprised the role in the 1950 movie.
Maloney says his character, Elwood P. Dowd, sees the positive in most people, brings out the best in every situation, wants people to be happy, and wants people to like him.
Elizabeth Hackathorn says she has been in around 30 plays since she was about 15 years old at different community theaters, including in California and Olathe, Kansas. She was the narrator for A Christmas Carol in December.
Hackathorn remembered watching Harvey as a movie when she was a child and loving it. When Plumb told Hackathorn Art’s Alive would perform Harvey, she was excited. However, she was not familiar with her character, Veta Louise Simmons.
Art’s Alive President Dan Maxey says Art’s Alive was lucky to receive an endowment from the former Trenton Acting Guild that involved cash, props, and costumes in storage.
Tickets cost $10.00 each for the performances of Harvey at the Trenton Performing Arts Center on September 24th and 25th. Tickets can be purchased at the Trenton Hy-Vee customer service desk.
