The Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy (HBHA) Upper School will present the romantic comedy “Father of the Bride” with two showings open to the community.
The shows will be at The Lewis and Shirley White Theatre at The J (5801 W. 115th St., Overland Park, KS 66211) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6, and Thursday, May 7. The play tells the story of a middle-aged man, Stanley Banks, whose life begins to spiral out of control as the planning for his daughter’s upcoming wedding grows increasingly complex and costly.
“Father of the Bride” has gone through many iterations over the years. It began as a 1949 novel by Edward Streeter and has since been adapted into two separate films: a 1950 version starring Spencer Tracy and a 1991 version starring Steve Martin. It was also adapted into a stage production, written by Caroline Francke, which the HBHA cast will perform.
The cast is composed of HBHA students Elia Ellis, Eric Fine, Lia Friedman, Shai Friedman, Simon Granoff, Ethan Hobbs, Naama Reem, Eliezer Rich, Shua Rich, Ruby Sokol, Gabrielle Sosland, Jake Sosland, Naftali Tilove and David Wasserman. It is stage managed by Avital Mullokandova and directed by Micah Margolies.
“It’s a wonderful play,” director Micah Margolies said. “It’s just a fun, wholesome show that everybody in the family can enjoy, about mix-ups and madness and family squabbles, but in the end, everybody ends up happy, and the father of the bride can finally relax. It’s got hilarious characters and something that everybody can relate to — especially if they’ve ever been involved with the zaniness of planning a wedding before.”
“I play a butler named Reginald who sometimes gets worked up over very small details,” HBHA junior Eliezer Rich said. “It’s really fun being able to go from calm to extremely upset in such a short amount of time. I think everyone will enjoy the show because it’s fun, funny and warm-hearted.”
Tickets can be reserved in advance or purchased at the door. Ticket prices and reservation details are available by emailing Margolies at .