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Community Corner

The Birmingham Village Players Presents "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean"

“Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?” Many of us sang these lyrics recently as we rang in the New Year. The rhetorical question, from Robert Burns’ 1778 Scottish poem, considers the desire to remember fondly old friendships.  It’s timely then that the upcoming show at the Village Players of Birmingham, “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,” reflects upon this same theme.

The play, written by Ed Graczyk, takes place in Texas in 1975 and tells the story of a Jimmy Dean fan club, the Disciples of James Dean, which reunites to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the star’s death. The show’s setting shifts between 1955 and 1975 as the characters reveal themselves and their secrets. The recollections, often told through flashbacks, as well as the arrival of a strangely familiar guest, create drama, conflict, and sometimes a bit of comedy.  

Jimmy Dean is a rich and complex show packed with emotional energy. Director Steve Roberts reflects, “Life is filled with many struggles and much joy, but it’s what happens between those moments that makes life most interesting.” In its own way, the play, similar to Burn’s Auld Lang Syne, celebrates life’s endings and new beginnings, quite fitting for the start of the new year.

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The Village Players of Birmingham presents “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,” January 17, 18 and 24 at 8:00 p.m. and January 19 and 26 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $17 and are available on the theater’s website www.birminghamvillageplayers.com or by calling the theater box office at 248-644-2075. The playhouse of the Village Players is located at 34660 Woodward Avenue in Birmingham.


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