Every year thousands of actors, dancers, directors apply to be part of this great theater festival here in the heart of Manhattan…
So the other night I happily went and supported the festival and one of its shows.
And here I am on McDougal Street right in front of the Players Theater ready to walk into a high school reunion…to be precise John and Greg’s high school reunion!
I sit in the audience while the theater quickly fills up.

On stage we see four chairs and we hear a Britney Spears song in the back ground.

The lights go down and up again on John (John Halbach) and Greg (Greg Ayers), are in their apartment, John just got back from buying a box of cereal after a trip to the coin star machine with a ‘win’ of $17 and Greg is cutting photos from “In Touch” magazine for his ‘secret’ board.

We quickly understand they have a hard time to make ends meet and after going through a bunch of unpaid bills they find an invitation to their 10 year high school reunion.

We suddenly get catapulted back in time to their high school years, not the best of their lives…sound familiar?

We meet the jock who of course gets the prettiest and most popular girl in school, we meet the exchange student from Japan and his sock puppet, we meet the stuck- in- the- 60’s principal and so on…

In the play, Halbach and Ayers, in addition to themselves, play all the characters (more than ten).

They are also the writers behind the show.

It’s a fast-paced, hilarious, no intermission walk-back in memory lane-show, where everybody will easily relate to the story…after all, the high school years are still stuck in our memories for one reason or another!

Halbach and Ayers use very minimal props, the whole show stands on their physicality, their voices and their impeccable comedic timing.

It’s a tour de force for the two actors and they both do a wonderful job.

As an audience member you never feel confused with all these characters, and that once again it’s thanks to the very skilful duo running the whole show.

I truly appreciated the creativity and the imagination behind the show and I give two big thumbs up to the actors and the director (Lexie Pregosin) for being able to paint so many different pictures in such a clear way.

You will laugh with them, at them and at your own high school years!

You still have a chance to catch the show at the Players Theater on Sunday August 23rd at 3:00 pm, Wednesday August 26th at 5:45 pm and Saturday August 29th at 10:30 pm.

For more info, check out the official website at: www.JohnandGregHSR.com