Fireworks Erupt a Bit Early

On Saturday, you’ll probably be eating barbecue and watching fireworks with your family. However, if you have a hankering for another type of fireworks, tonight and Friday night at 8 you can see “The Man Who Came to Dinner” in the Glendale Center Theatre, 324 N. Orange St.

The play, written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart and first produced in New York City on Oct. 16, 1939, takes place in the Stanley family living room, which is taken over by the bombastic Sheridan Whiteside when the noted lecturer and “house guest from hell” breaks his hip on the Stanley doorstep.

Director George Strattan said he’s taking a more realistic tack than the exaggerated treatment sometimes given the play.

“It’s written for a more tongue-in-cheek approach,” he said.

He pointed out that the characters in the play were based on real people that the playwrights knew, especially Whiteside, who was based on Kaufman and Hart’s good friend, the acerbic critic and radio commentator Alexander Woollcott.

Performances will continue Tuesdays through Saturdays through July 18 at 8 p.m., with a special matinee on July 11 at 3 p.m. Because of the holiday, there is no performance on Saturday. Prices are $8.50 on Tuesdays through Thursdays and for the Saturday matinee, and $11 Friday and Saturday nights.