Port Polson Players open season July 6

The Port Polson Players, Montana’s fifth-oldest summer stock company, present three lively family-friendly comedies for their 48th summer season.

First up, playing July 6-16, is Tim McGuire’s heartfelt comedy with music, “Carry Me O’er.” Set in 1924 Ireland, an aging father, Cullan McGrath, brings his son, Jack, a prominent teacher, back to the old homestead of six generations for some lessons in family, history and a few very big surprises.

But Jack has some pretty big news of his own. Neither man’s bombshell will make the other happy, yet must be told. As each tries to get the ball rolling, laughter abounds in this warm, wise and witty play, which features some of Ireland’s most popular traditional tunes.

“The Nerd” hits the Polson stage July 21-Aug. 6 (no show July 20). Considered Larry Shue’s masterpiece, this razor-sharp comedy has become a theatre classic.

Willum, an up-and-coming architect, and girlfriend Tansy, a local weathercaster, are obviously meant for each other. But when each is offered a job far away, it’s up to their friend, Axel, a seasoned theatre critic, to keep them together.

Enter Rick Steadman, an army mate of Willum’s, who is now a hopeless nerd, and the tables – and everything else – get turned with gut-busting laughter. An up-tight boss, his slightly psychotic wife and their 8-year-old grandson only add to the confusion, right up to the very surprising conclusion.

The final summer show, “Butterflies Are Free” by Leonard Gershe, plays Aug. 10-27. Set in the 1960’s, this period comedy tells the poignant story of a young man, Donny, who is making his first attempt at living on his own, despite the best efforts of his domineering mother. Donny is blind, and when he meets next-door neighbor, Jill, a full-fledged flower child, he discovers a whole new world, literally at his fingertips.

The two develop a fast friendship that quickly becomes a romance, threatened only by mother’s constant meddling and a creepy theatre producer. One wonders how things will end as these four very different worlds spin, connect and finally collide.

All shows are produced at Polson’s Theatre on the Lake, on the Polson golf course in Boettcher Park. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Seating is reserved by calling the box office at 406-883-9212 or online at portpolsonplayers.com; walk-ins are welcome.

The Players are on the road to Helena July 20, where the company stages their original musical, “No Coward’s Epitaph” at The Myrna Loy. The, which premiered in Polson, tells the story of Montana’s first territorial governor, Thomas Francis Meagher, and accompanies a Meagher-related art exhibit at Helena’s Holter Museum, in honor of Irish rebel’s 200th birthday.