The production runs Thursday through Feb. 12 at the West Springfield theater.
Robert Lunde of Springfield, Alika Hope of northern CT, and Tom Dahl of Blandford are shown in a scene from "The Island Lily," a romantic comedy at West Springfield's Majestic Theater running January 5 through February 12.Little did Danny Eaton realize that the fishing trips he took to Key West and the people he met there would inspire him to write an original play called “The Island Lily,” which makes its debut today at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield.
Set on the docks of a marina, “The Island Lily” is a warmhearted play about love, Fruit of the Loom underwear, and “landing the big one that almost got away.”
Described by Eaton as a “romantic comedy about fishing,” the play follows the story of Tig Dillon, a veteran fisherman facing debt and a lackluster season for his charter boat business. Junie, Tig’s girlfriend is the owner of the Island Lila Marina, where Tig slips his boat, and the pair watch with keen interest when real estate developer Ronnie Rondeau and his trophy wife BobbieAnn open a trendy rival marina nearby. Tig also has his hands full mentoring “The Kid,” a wannabe boat captain whose only passion is fishing.
“This is really a character-driven story. The characters I have created are all funny in a human kind of way, not funny in a Neil Simon kind of way. It took me about a year to work on it and we were actually still working on it doing rehearsals with edits and changes in lines,” said Eaton, founding director of the Majestic, who is also directing the play.
The play stars Rob Lunde as Tig, Alika Hope as Junie, Tom Dahl as The Kid, Brenny Rabine as Bobbie Ann and Josh Perlstein as Ronnie Rondeau.
“I think audiences are going to get a kick out of the fact that Tig is a curmudgeon. He’s one of those people we all know who really loves to take care of other people, but he is gruff….rough on the outside, not on the inside,” said Lunde, who noted he is drawing “a lot on my dad” in bringing the character to life on stage.
“We actually did a staged reading of the play a year ago. It was a great chance to get a feel for the play in advance. And it is fun to see the script go from where it was a year ago to where it was when we picked up the script again,” he added.
Lunde, who lives in Springfield, is an actor, producer and writer.
“I like June, she is strong and has a lot of personality, those are two things I really like about her. I think audiences will see a lot of real life experiences in her, that she wasn’t raised in a bubble or ivory tower,” said Hope about playing Tig’s love interest.
Hope, who was part of the staged reading of the play last year, said she was drawn to the role of Junie because “she is a really strong character and very well-written by Danny.
A member of the Actors’ Equity, Hope divides her time between Northern Connecticut and New York City.
Eaton, who has written other works staged at the Majestic including “Anthem” and “The Winds of Fashioning Times,” is truly an avid fisherman.