WLT’s ‘Mom’s Gift’ is scheduled to open on Feb. 8

The Weiser Little Theater this year presents the play “Mom’s Gift,” with opening night on Feb. 8.

 Tickets are available at www.weiserlittletheater.org. Just hit the “Ticket” pulldown menu on the home page and you will be taken to another page where you can look over theater seating and decide from which vantage point you would like to enjoy the play.

 Once you have made that decision, you can click the weiserlittletheater.seatyourself.biz link to make your purchase.

 The play runs from Feb. 8-10, 13, and 15-17. All the performances, except the Tuesday night performance, are dinner nights, with chicken alfredo, vegetables, salad, and garlic bread. Cost is $30 for the dinner and show.

 Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with dinner served at 7 p.m. The play begins at 8 p.m.

 Dessert night is Tuesday, Feb. 13, with the play beginning at 7 p.m.  

 Dessert will be served at intermission. Cost is $20.

 “Mom’s Gift” was first produced at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. in December 2013. 

 The story plot: Mom has been dead for 11 months and shows up at her husband’s birthday party as a ghost with a mission. Like Clarence in “It’s A Wonderful Life,” she has to accomplish a task to earn her wings. The task she is supposed to complete, however, is a mystery because like many families, there are many things to “fix.” 

 The problem is complicated by the fact that the only person who can hear or see Mom is her eldest daughter who has been ordered by the court to spend Dad’s birthday with him as part of her “anger management program.” One by one the family’s secrets are peeled away revealing a shocking truth that surprises even the ghost.

 “There is a doctor and his wife who were in a car wreck, and she is badly injured and hangs on, but eventually dies,” explained “Mom’s Gift” Director Sandra Cooper. “There are two daughters; one is extremely successful and the younger one works at Hooter’s. Mom shows up and she’s the only one that can see her. 

 “Throughout the play, you wonder which project or mission she is supposed to take care of to get her wings. There are a lot of little subplots going on that lead you in different directions, twists that are surprising that make it kind of fun. It’s cute, but very poignant.”

 She said the cast is graced with both veteran and first-time actors.

 “Kevin Walker, who plays the dad, has been in several plays,” Cooper said. “There is one scene where his character is actually able to hear mom’s voice and cries. During rehearsal the other night, Kevin’s tears were comin’ down and we were all bawling.”

 One of the first-time actors, Cooper said, is very talented and seems more like a veteran.

 “She showed up for auditions and had prepared a monologue with a British accent and just nailed it,” she said. “She will play the daughter who can see and hear mom. She’s a tiny thing, but she is sassy and has an attitude. She’s never acted before, but you would never know it.”

 The cast is currently rehearsing four nights a week. For more information, visit www.weiserlittletheater.org or leave a message at (208) 549-9355.