‘Say Goodnight Gracie’ Coming to Cape May Stage

CAPE MAY — Back by popular demand, renowned Broadway actor, Joel Rooks will reprise his critically acclaimed role of the lovable George Burns in the Tony-nominated Best Play, Say Goodnight, Gracie, beginning May 11, at the Robert Shackleton Playhouse of Cape May Stage, at the corner of Bank of Lafayette streets.
Written by multiple Tony and Emmy award-winning writer Rupert Holmes, Say Goodnight, Gracie, will also feature the acclaimed actress Didi Conn’s estimable talents as the singular voice of Gracie Allen. Hailed by The New Yorker as both “touching and hilarious, and a showcase for an era,” Say Goodnight, Gracie previews May 11, officially opens May 12, and closes June 18.
In this 90-minute production, director Roy Steinberg takes theater audiences on a guided tour through the 20th century, told through the eyes of Burns. Burns, the raconteur who savored each day from his impoverished youth on the lower East side to his career in Vaudeville, regales audiences with stories about his marriage to Allen, their rise to success on stage, screen, radio and TV, and ends his narrative touching upon his memorable “second time around.”
Say Goodnight, Gracie is an unforgettable theatre experience, centering around one man’s devotion to his wife: a woman who was his friend, his sweetheart, and his partner for life and beyond. A love story one hundred years in the making, it induces tears of laughter and compassion as it tells the remarkable adventures of Burns, a scrappy kid from the absolute poverty of New York’s lower East Side (whose neighbors included Fanny Brice and The Marx Brothers) who fought his way with song and dance into Vaudeville.
When Burns met the romance of his lifetime, the deliciously delirious Allen, the pair teamed up as both entertainers and lovers and rode a rainbow to stardom that led them on to the heights of Hollywood and into the homes of America.
And the critical acclaim speaks for itself: “George Burns came alive again for ninety wonderful, endearing minutes! I strongly recommend it!!” hailed Jeffrey Lyons for NBC, while Robyn Carter for CBS proclaimed it “a mesmerizing, career-capping achievement.”
Joel Rooks first performed the role of George Burns on Broadway as understudy to the late Frank Gorshin. He is a member of Ensemble Studio Theater, Circle East and New River Dramatists. He has been a guest teacher in the theater departments at NYU, the Mason-Gross School at Rutgers University and at the Hogeschool in Eindhoven, Holland.
Didi Conn is best known for her starring role in the film, You Light Up My Life, and as Frenchy, the beauty school dropout in Grease and Grease II. She recently commemorated the 20th anniversary of Grease by writing Frenchy’s Grease Scrapbook- We’ll Always Be Together.
Conn has recorded hundreds of commercials for radio and television. She and her husband, composer David Shire, and their son, Daniel, divide their time between homes in New York and Los Angeles.
Ticket Information: Opening May 11, Say Goodnight, Gracie performances are Thursdays through Sundays at 8 p.m. with 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees. Beginning June 1, performances run Wednesday through Sunday at 8 p.m. and matinees on Sunday at 3 p.m. through June 18. Tickets are $35 adults, $30 seniors, and $15 students. Previews on May 11 will be half-price tickets.
Call 609-884-1341 for tickets and information or visit the theatre’s website, www.capemaystage.com Audio enhancement, wheelchair accessible seating, and large print programs are available with advance notice by calling the box office at 609-884-1341.
This production is generously sponsored by The Queen Victoria ® Bed & Breakfast. 
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