Polk County Public Schools
Lake Gibson High Theatre will present two benefit performances of Anne Nelson’s “The Guys” on Saturday, September 13. Starring in the production are Stephanie D’Abruzzo, best known for Broadway’s “Avenue Q,” and Greg Burdick, Lake Gibson High’s director of theatre arts. All technical elements of the production will be handled by the school’s theatre arts students. Burdick will also direct.
The Guys will be presented on Saturday, September 13, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Lake Gibson High Auditorium, 7007 North Socrum Loop Road in Lakeland. There will be a talk-back with the audience after each of the two performances. All seats are $10, and tickets may be purchased at the door, or in advance by calling 863-853-6100.
A portion of the profits from these performances, commemorating the seventh anniversary of the September 11th attacks, will benefit a local charity called “L.i.F.E. & Kidz” (Law Enforcement, Fire Safety, Emergency Medical Service). The organization helps raise money specifically for the families of any Polk County firefighter, or member of law enforcement or EMS who perish in the line of duty. Other revenue from the show will also assist Lake Gibson High’s arts education and theatre program.
Based on actual events, the two-person drama documents the experience of a journalist (Joan) who is enlisted to help a fire captain (Nick) write eulogies for eight men lost from his company after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Written in just nine days and staged only four months after that historic date, this deeply moving piece shows two strangers reaching out to one another in an extraordinary time of crisis. While the play was originally meant to honor and remember the sacrifices made by so many firefighters and emergency workers on that fateful day in New York, it still resonates today, as it celebrates the courage, dedication and humanity of those heroes who continue to put their lives on the line every day.
“The Guys” marks a stage reunion for D’Abruzzo and Burdick, who appeared in several productions together at Peters Township High School in the Pittsburgh suburb of McMurray, Penn. Burdick did not need to do much to persuade D’Abruzzo to travel to Florida for a week of unpaid rehearsals and performances. “He asked, and I said yes,” says D’Abruzzo. “The play does open some scars for me from those days in New York City immediately following September 11, 2001, but it is so important to remember that the heroism of those who risk their lives on a daily basis is not limited to that one moment in time. Also, Greg is carrying on a great tradition at Lake Gibson. His ambitious theatre program is very much like the one that he and I benefitted so greatly from when we were in school together, and so to assist that in any way is an honor.”
Stephanie D’Abruzzo, a New Yorker for 15 years, is a Tony and Drama Desk nominated actress who originated the roles of Kate and Lucy in the Tony winning musical Avenue Q. Along with her many New York stage credits, she also guest-starred in the musical episode of NBC’s “Scrubs,” has been a Muppet Performer on “Sesame Street” for 14 seasons, and has worked extensively as a television puppeteer and voiceover artist. Greg Burdick has been a Florida high school educator since 1993 and is the current sponsor of Troupe #6719 of the International Thespian Society at Lake Gibson where he was named Teacher of the Year in 2006.
Burdick has directed more than fifty productions in Polk and Pasco Counties. His professional credits include HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon,” “Lysistrata” (Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center) and “Cash on Delivery” (Mark Two Dinner Theatre).