Preview of 'Harvey' at the Phoenix Stage Company

Harvey

by Mary Chase

Directed by Donna Storms

July 21 - August 4, 2012

Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00pm • Sundays at 2:00pm

When Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend, Harvey, a six-and-a-half-foot rabbit, to guests at a society party, his sister, Veta, has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter, Myrtle Mae, and their family from future embarrassment.

Problems arise, however, when Veta herself is mistakenly assumed to be on the verge of lunacy when she explains to doctors that years of living with Elwood’s hallucination have caused her to see Harvey also! The doctors commit Veta instead of Elwood, but when the truth comes out, the search is on for Elwood and his invisible companion.

When he shows up at the sanitarium looking for his lost friend Harvey, it seems that the mild-mannered Elwood’s delusion has had a strange influence on more than one of the doctors. Only at the end does Veta realize that maybe Harvey isn’t so bad after all.

The Cast of HARVEY:

Elwood P. Dowd – Dave Wall

Veta Luoise Simmons – Jane Coughlin

Myrtle Mae Simmons – Margaret Warner

Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet – Mary Wilson

Ruth Kelley R.N. – Heather Graham

Lyman Sanderson M.D. – Spencer Poulin

Duane Wislon – Ed Bassett

William R. Chumley MD – Tim Phillips

Betty Chumley – Patti Paganucci

Judge Omar Gaffney – Peter Flynn

EJ Lofgren – Tim Cleary