Wheaton Warrenville South play explores space shuttle explosion

The dramatic comedy "Defying Gravity" will take center stage for three nights next week at Wheaton Warrenville South High School.

Written by Jane Anderson, the play is designed to make audiences look down on the world from a new perspective.

Based on the 1986 shuttle Challenger disaster, the play features a teacher and six others who died as they hurtled into space.

The story weaves the past with the present and captures the zest of the teacher selected to be the first civilian astronaut, the perspectives of her grieving daughter, the aspirations of elderly tourists who drive their Winnebago to Florida to watch the space shot and dream of hotels in space, the guilt felt by a NASA mechanic and his girlfriend's fear of heights.

The show will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, Nov. 12-14, in the school auditorium, 1920 S. Wiesbrook Road, Wheaton.

Tickets are $10 and available online at showtix4u.com. Call the box office at (630) 784-7243 for details.

The cast, which is split for different performances, features Maddie Corgiat, Beth Keholer, Caitrin Gallagher, Haylee Sippel, Justin Baise, Jack Wooton, Allie Mousseau, Bethany Antuna, Owen Woodard, Keegan Hollyer, Rebecca Johnson, Cora McVey, Nathan Rieley and Andrew Baise.

Crew members are Andrew Johnston, Jordan Sipla, Eli Rubenstein, Margaret Amen, Varya Bazalev, Elizabeth Nahulak, Rachel Neese, Haley Wilson, Matt Adomshick, Macy Castro, Maddie Jeffery, Daniel Johnston, Megan Kroehnke, Rachel Makowski, Karissa Paulsen, Laura Schechter, Jenny Ziegler and Christopher Valentin.

Dave DeMarzo is directing the show. Roberta James is the assistant director, Terry Redford is the technical director, Will Peterson is the assistant technical director and Patricia Overturf is in charge of the box office and publicity.