The Last Wide Open

poster graphic for THE LAST WIDE OPEN. It's a view looking down at a table in a diner, with a red gingham tablecloth, a plate with a knife, fork, and napkin on the left, cappuccino with a heart in the foam down center, and a bridal magazine that says "Bodas" on the right. In the top center is a diner menu that reads: "The Last Wide Open, by Audrey Cefaly"

The Last Wide Open is a musical sliding-doors rom-com about love and immigration. A play for anyone who has ever had a hard time finding the words to share their love.

Featuring a Jeff-Award-recommended script by Audrey Cefaly and music by Matthew M. Nielson, this play explores near-hits, near-misses, second chances, and, in the playwright’s words, “the mystical ways the universe conspires to bring us all together.”

About our production:

The Last Wide Open will be performed at Silk Moth Stage on May 9-11 and 16-18, with a rain date on May 24. Mexilachian music by the Lua Project (and friends), starts at 6. The play begins at 7. Afterward, s’mores!

Special for May 10: Lua Project featuring The Richardson Esposito Duo​!

May 9 and 10, Chris Hoover, the Executive Director of New Bridges Immigrant Resource Center, will be joining us to share about that organization and the specific immigrant stories in our community.

The performance on May 18, as well as the rain date if we have that, will have ASL interpretation and audio description. We will have virtual captioning on May 10 and 17 (what’s virtual captioning?).

​Contains some strong language, in English and German.

Special thanks to the Wayne Theatre, Theater at Bridgewater College, and Olivia Smucker.

THE LAST WIDE OPEN is presented through special arrangement with TRW PLAYS 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. http://www.trwplays.com . The video or audio recording of
this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.

Meet our production team

A restaurant guest check on a table, with an engagement ring and a wine glass drawn on it. On top of the check is Hannah Pennington's headshot. Hannah is a white woman with short brown hair. She is wearing a floral blouse with a large white collar and smiling slightly.

Hannah Pennington (Lina) holds a Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and has spent years claiming that she is “not a theatre person.” Despite this, she works in the Finance Department at the American Shakespeare Center and dabbles in playwriting. Last year she stumbled into acting, performing with ShenanArts as Rosie in Cabaret and Alison in Fun Home. The Last Wide Open is Hannah’s first performance with Silk Moth Stage.

She currently resides in Staunton with her 4 daughters and ex-boyfriend’s favorite hoodie.

A restaurant guest check on a table, with a guitar and a pencil drawn on it. On top of the check is Aaron Kaufmann's headshot. Aaron is a white man with short, curly, dark brown hair. He has a mustache and beard. He is wearing a brown sweater over a blue gingham shirt.

Aaron Kaufmann has been doing theater all his life. His first true theater production was as a shepherd at the age of 6 in Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Growing up he was involved in as many community productions as he could during the summers and with school productions once he was old enough including the role of Pippin in Pippin. In college he majored in music education with a minor in theater. One of his favorite shows from that time was La Serva Padrona, a 30 minute opera buffa for baritone, soprano, and mute. He also very much enjoyed his role as Don Alhambra in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers.

When it comes to theater, Aaron has been involved in pretty much every aspect of theater. He’s been onstage, backstage as stage manager, light board operator, and lighting designer, and balanced front of house roles such as director and venue manager. He has even played in the pit for a couple shows.

After college he directed two shows for Princeton High School, Honk! and The Wizard of Oz, and had a great time working with the students. He was out of the country for four years and took a bit of a break from theater, not by conscious choice, but by happenstance. It was not until 2023 with the role of Caldwell B. Cladwell Urinetown here in Harrisonburg with the Friendly City Players that he made it back to the stage, and realized that he has been missing the enjoyment that theater brings to his life.

A restaurant guest check on a table, with a lightbulb and a megaphone drawn on it. On top of the check is Kelsey Harrison's headshot. Kelsey is a white woman with short brown hair. She is wearing a black tank top and smiling slightly.

Kelsey Harrison (Director) is originally from the Pacific Northwest. Kelsey is an interdisciplinary director, actor, and teaching artist. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Viterbo University, a Diploma in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, a Master of Letters and MFA in Shakespeare and Performance (directing concentration) from Mary Baldwin University. She is also a dual certification candidate (acting and directing) in the Michael Chekhov technique with the National Michael Chekhov Association. She believes in the use of a safe, ensemble-focused rehearsal environment that inspires one’s creativity and imagination. Previous directing credits include The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Patient Grissel (MBU S&P), Romeo and Juliet (New Muses), Robin Hood (Missoula Children’s Theatre), and the Virginia premiere of Cupid and Psyche by Emily C.A. Snyder (Mary Baldwin University). To learn more about her work, visit kelseymharrison.com.

A restaurant guest check on a table, with music notes drawn on it. On top of the check is Jeremy Nafziger's headshot. Jeremy is a white man with gray hair and a beard. In the picture, he has a black cat on his shoulder. He is wearing a light green button-down shirt over a dark green t-shirt, and smiling.

Jeremy Nafziger (Music Director) does music as it comes along. He leads church music; sings in choirs (including Cantore, a local eight-voice men’s group, and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival); has directed choirs and instrumental ensembles (including the Alice Parker opera, Singers Glen); and writes and arranges music for some of those places and for fun. Jeremy is president of The Harmonia Sacra Society, which promotes and preserves singing from a local 19th -century shaped note hymnal. He and his wife, Michael Ann Courtney, live in Weyers Cave and have four children who are suddenly and recently no longer at home most of the time. Jeremy is a technical writer for a software company, which allowed him to work from home way before it was popular.

A restaurant guest check on a table, with thumbs up, heart, and comment icons, as well as a book drawn on it. On top of the check is Laine Anthony's headshot. Laine is a white woman with sholder-length dark brown hair. She is wearing black sweater and smiling slightly.

Laine Anthony (Production Intern) is a sophomore at Bridgewater College studying Strategic Communications with minors in Theatre and Leadership & Community Engagement. She grew up in central Virginia, doing theatre where she could. In college, she swore not to be a “theatre kid,” but quickly became involved, performing in two productions her first year and being elected vice president of Pinion Players, the theatre club on campus. Now in her sophomore year, she has four productions with Bridgewater under her belt, having stage managed for the school’s fall production and acted in the school’s spring production of A Doll’s House Part 2 as Nora. She feels blessed to have been afforded so many opportunities with theatre throughout her life. Looking to the future, she anticipates local participation in theatre alongside a 9-to-5 in public relations.

This project was supported, in part, by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly.