
When Pinnacle Acting Company managing director and actress Melanie Nelson first saw Dancing at Lughnasa nearly 15 years ago, she, like many others, was hooked, and it’s remained one of her favorites. The 1992 Tony winner, set in 1936 Ireland, focuses on the five Mundy sisters and reveals life’s subtle clashes: love and loneliness, entrepreneurship and big business, Catholicism and paganism, family values and individual autonomy, etc. Above all, though, this heartfelt drama with comedic twists delves into the intensity of human experience and familial bonds.
Despite Nelson’s affinity for the play, it’s taken awhile for the show to become a PAC production. “It’s a tough show. You need really good actors. We were waiting until we felt like we had enough resources to cast the people we needed,” says Nelson, who, with seven other actors, round out one of PAC’s most experienced casts ever. The play’s abundance of excellent roles is an audience’s—and actor’s—dream come true.
Pinnacle Acting Company: Dancing at Lughnasa @ Midvale Performing Arts Center, 695 W. Center St. (7720 South), Midvale, Nov. 4-20, Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m., $15. PinnacleActingCompany.org