BY: JESSICA SCHILLING
PHOTOS: JEREMY KUHN

If you’re looking for a night of laughs and a flash back to a more “groovy” time, you’re in luck! Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s Barefoot in the Park is set in New York City in the 1960s. This Neil Simon play follows newlyweds Paul (David Hatter) and Corie (Lexee Longwell) in their first weeks of marriage . . . with all the challenges that come with living together, moving into a new apartment, and the “work/life” balance!

If you’re married, or living with your significant other, think back to that first week or two together – you had to agree what went where, adjust to each other’s schedules, and learn how to make do with what might not be ideal conditions! Paul and Corie play out on stage how a young couple meets these unexpected issues head on . . . not always so gracefully, much to the audience’s entertainment!

Corie is a free spirited young woman who never met a stranger – and she married straight laced “stuffed shirt” Paul, a new attorney trying to make a name for himself. The two couldn’t be more different, which only adds to the regular newlywed excitement. The play opens with Corie excitedly entering their new apartment and letting in the phone company representative to install a phone (yup – a cord to the wall rotary dial phone!!), and the laughs start immediately! Their New York apartment is on the top floor – six flights of stairs, if you count the stop – leaving Paul, Corie, and their guests winded by the time they reach the top! Corie sees the whole apartment and everything that goes with it (including the “coziness”) with rose colored glasses, while Paul is not so sure about the bedroom (they have to turn in unison the bed and room are so small) or the “fresh air” that their top floor skylight provides. Continue reading Grand Rapids Civic Theatre presents Barefoot in the Park →