News Article

Gonzaga University’s Readers Theatre Series will kick off its second season with a special presentation of Anne Nelson’s “The Guys,” at 7 and 9 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 11, in the Jepson Center Wolff Auditorium. Admission is by donation, and tickets are first-come, first-served with free tickets for first responders and their families. All proceeds beyond meeting royalty costs will be donated to the Shriners Hospital Children’s Burn Centers, the designated charity of local firefighters.

Nelson’s moving drama portrays the true story of a fire chief who had to write and deliver eulogies for the eight men he lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The chief describes these men, in his own words, to Joan, a writer who gives form and eloquence to the lives and sacrifice e of “the guys.”

Written in the raw anguish of the weeks following 9/11, the play provided some solace and understanding to a city and nation in shock. The original production starred Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver and was later made into a film starring Weaver and Anthony LaPaglia.

“The Guys” will be performed by native New York actors Anne Selcoe, a professor at The Community Colleges of Spokane, and Brian C. Russo, who began teaching theatre at Gonzaga last fall.

For more information, please contact Russo at (509) 323-6551 or via e-mail.