Find out who'd fit in your family at Carmel play
Carmel Catholic High School will present "Every Family Has One," a comedy in three acts by George Batson.
Performances will take place at 7 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the high school, 1 Carmel Parkway, Mundelein.
This comedy about family life is set in the 1948 and features characters that every family can somehow relate to, director Denise Sebastiano said.
"Every family has one, two, three or all of them," she said.
Laura Reardon is a social climber who tells tales about her glorious ancestry. She is happy because she has engineered a match between her daughter, Marcia, and the wealthy Sherwin Parker.
The father, Reginald, would rather tinker with automobiles than ticker tape. The youngest Reardon, Penelope, is a demon with a slingshot and the piano. Warry, the only son, is over-dramatic, egotistical and obsessed with work that does not allow him to form any relationships with his family.
He specifically is obsessed his typewriter and writing a book that he plans to be a tragedy. However, when the publisher receives it they offer to publish it but as a comedy. Warry is crushed.
"We want them to laugh a lot," said senior Brad Etter, who plays Warry. "We want them to see these delusional relationships."
Nana is the quick-witted grandmother who focuses on Bing Crosby records and getting rid of the Parkers.
"Nana wants her to marry for love," said junior Arie Marchioni, who plays Nana. "She makes a lot of plans to make sure she does."
Nana enlists the help of Cousin Lily, a liar with acting aspirations. Lily agrees to impersonate another Cousin Lily if Nana will help her get an acting job.
Lily's performance as the skeleton in the closet is so convincing and lurid facts are so shocking that the Parkers leave the picture quickly. And Marcia can reunite with the boy she really loves.
All tickets cost $6. For more information, call the ticket hotline at (847) 388-3450 or visit the school's Web site www.carmelhs.org.
The double cast of "Every Family Has One" includes the following students: Savannah Milazzo and Jackie Vresics as Penelope Reardon; Kelly Fagan and Maggie McDonaugh as Laura Reardon; Max O'Connell and Alejandro Zuniga as Reginald Reardon; Arie Marchioni and Katie Schmitz as Nana Reardon; Rebecca Bream and Maggie Love as Marcia Reardon; Brad Etter and Dino Filippini as Warry Reardon; Katie Geusz and Lydia Warco as Lily Reardon; Maggi Riedl and Trish Simmons as Essie; Brendan Butler as James Parker; Katie Kruger and Ashleen Davey as Bessie Parker; Austin Welsch and Patrick Miranda as Sherwin Parker; Tony Staren as Todd Galloway; Jenn Haining as the young lawyer Carol Bates; Stacey Baer as Beth; and Kelli Little as Millie.